3 ms·
His cited example of a placebo that could skew data is olive oil, which by reducing heart disease would make the drug appear less effective than it might actual
by oneandoneis2 14y ago
His cited example of a placebo that could skew data is olive oil, which by reducing heart disease would make the drug appear less effective than it might actually be.
Pointing out a study where the pharma company might have used a placebo that made their drug harder to approve is hardly in keeping with the insinuation that they're using placebos for "disturbing" ends.
Seems more like a case of "throw all the mud and hope some of it sticks" to me. Sorry.
- gwern 14y agoMore importantly: if the tested drug can't beat olive oil on the very thing that the drug is meant to treat, then why should it be approved at all? (Drugs should be tested against the best existing alternative treatment, not merely a placebo. We are not interested in whether a new drug has a non-zero effect - but whether it is an improvement on the state of the art in some way.)
- kragen 14y agoIt might be an improvement on the state of the art in some other way. For example, a new antibiotic might be less effective than existing antibiotics, but have no cross-resistance with them and therefore be useful in treating antibiotic-resistant strains in the future (the magainin case), or a new antipsychotic might be less effective than existing antipsychotics for average patients, but more effective or less damaging for a few. Finally, you might be able to get synergistic effects by combining the drug with the best existing alternative treatment.
- lwat 14y agoAlso: The placebo effect is stronger if the placebo used has side effects. Again this works AGAINST drug companies.