Healthy Skepticism Library item: 13260

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Journal Article

Antonuccio DO, Burns DD, Danton WG.
Antidepressants: A triumph of marketing over science?
Prevention & Treatment. 2002 Jul 15; 5:(1):Item 25
http://content.apa.org/journals/pre/5/1/25

Abstract:

In a meta-analysis of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) database of controlled trials used in the initial approval for the most popular antidepressants, I. Kirsch, T. J. Moore, A. Scoboria, and S. S. Nicholls (2002) found that antidepressants demonstrated a clinically negligible advantage over inert placebo. These results are surprising, because they come from studies underwritten by the drug manufacturers. This analysis probably overestimates the antidepressant effect because placebo washout strategies, penetration of the blind, reliance on clinician ratings, use of sedative medication, and replacement of nonresponders may penalize the placebo condition or boost the drug condition. These findings do not appear to justify the popularity of antidepressants, which may have been fueled in part by publication bias and outstanding marketing. Psychotherapy may offer an effective alternative with fewer medical risks.

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