The drugs don't work: a modern medical scandal

The Guardian (UK) ^ | 9-21-2012 | Ben Goldacre

[Renfield]

The doctors prescribing the drugs don't know they don't do what they're meant to. Nor do their patients. The manufacturers know full well, but they're not telling.

~~snip~~

But we had both been misled. In October 2010, a group of researchers was finally able to bring together all the data that had ever been collected on reboxetine, both from trials that were published and from those that had never appeared in academic papers. When all this trial data was put together, it produced a shocking picture. Seven trials had been conducted comparing reboxetine against a placebo. Only one, conducted in 254 patients, had a neat, positive result, and that one was published in an academic journal, for doctors and researchers to read. But six more trials were conducted, in almost 10 times as many patients. All of them showed that reboxetine was no better than a dummy sugar pill. None of these trials was published. I had no idea they existed....

[Vince Ferrer]

Good article. There are many ways for good science to get corrupted or fall through the cracks. The way we publish scientific papers, while good enough for a hundred years ago, really ought to be redesigned. Not only is there bias towards positive results coming from manufacturers invested in the product, but there are biases towards positive results in publications as well. This area could stand a lot of reform, although I am not sure of the government's role. A lot of this could be open sourced as well with more oversight and less corruption.

[yldstrk]

I almost croaked when my ENT prescribed a new “miracle” antibiotic for a sinus infection: Biaxin. Didn’t work and if my sinus had exploded from being full of pus, my brain would have been fried. The doc had to cure me the old fashioned way, drilling a hole through the brow bone and vacuuming the goo out.

A friend of mine, also an ENT, said “nobody got any better” on Biaxin, but “the salesman was so nice”

[hinckley buzzard]

Reboxetine was refused approval by the US FDA for the reason that efficacy was not demonstrated. It has not been approved for antidepressant use in the USA as a result. The FDA action btw was in 2001.

This English "doctor" didn't do much homework apparently, as a five minute search would have enlightened him on the FDA findings. If he was too arrogant to pay attention to the FDA then he is simply negligent.