E-DRUG: placebo controlled studies in psychiatry? (3)
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Dear Dr Blockman,
Regulatory authorities generally inist to bring prove that a new drug for
use in psychiatry is at least better than placebo. I fully agree with this,
except when it concerns depression. I am of the opinion that placebo
controlled studies in depression are unethical. For other diagnoses you will
always find a study design which permits the use of placebo for some length of
time without becoming unethical. Many years ago, I developed several
psychiatric drugs with multinationals, including three antidepressant drugs.
I am not aware of any specific publications on this subject.
Sincerely yours,
Dr. F.H. Jansen
Fhjansen@skynet.be
[Can all e-druggers please add profession and/or affiliation, please? Wilbert
Bannenberg, moderator]
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