5 ms·
I think antidepressants are getting the spotlight because some (many) were approved with only a slim <10% improvement over a placebo... I think the same could b
by ldoughty 4y ago
I think antidepressants are getting the spotlight because some (many) were approved with only a slim <10% improvement over a placebo... I think the same could be said about the congestion medication phenylephrine [1] (edit: added specific drug name. edit 2: added link)
I get the feeling that drug approval laxed for a good while and let these slip through
[1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17264159/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17264159/
- cameronh90 4y agoI'm not sure how universal this is, but for me, phenylephrine is literally just side effects. It still makes my anxiety worse, but does nothing for my congestion.
- KvanteKat 4y agoWithout knowing the exact approval history in the US, I doubt that it is a lax approval process as much as it is an absence of better alternatives. There are not really any known effective clinical interventions (be they in the form of medicine, therapy, or things like more exercise), and a 10% improvement is better than nothing (clinical therapy (notably Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) is generally believed to be more effective but not by that much and it is financially out of reach for many people who are able to afford medication).
- kraussvonespy 4y agoMore on this from Derek Lowe of Things I Won’t Work With fame: https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/uselessness-phenylephrine https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/uselessness-phenyl...