WELL DUH! Comparison of Psychiatric Drugs Often Favors Firm Paying ..

[pepperbear]

*edited to include headline in subject frame*

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/11/AR2006041101478.html

Comparison of Psychiatric Drugs Often Favors Firm Paying for Study

By Shankar Vedantam
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 12, 2006; Page A01

Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co. recently funded five studies that compared its antipsychotic drug Zyprexa with Risperdal, a competing drug made by Janssen. All five showed Zyprexa was superior in treating schizophrenia......

[libodem]

1. Both drugs are also used on the elderly

and i have to say that Zyprexa usually has less side effects. The Risperdal caused some of my former patients not to be able to sit still. They seemed to have an impulse to get up and move about without purpose. In these types of cases the goal is usually to calm and semi-sedate the truly demented. They are high fall risks and can be a danger to themselves and others. Just sayin'. And more to the point it isn't any surprise that the funded studies favor the people paying the bills. BTW Saraquel works better than both of them, IMO.

[tomp]

3. it's only a surprise if you call it science.

so the makers of risperdal do five studies which show their drug is better. they can't both be right and both be scientific.

[SPKrazy]

2. My Experience With Clinical Trials Tells Me They Are Generally

Bullshit.

They weed out people that have problems with a med sometimes.

They make it look good for the party paying the money for the study.

It's a racket where Doctors and hospitals, and pharmacies make BIG MONEY doing these trials for the drug companies.

Some hospitals have developed Clinical Research Departments to do clinical trials for drug companies and they are making money to help hospitals that are often running deficits.

[NMMNG]

4. Well, what do you know? Drug companies are biased in their own favor!

:wow:

If I had a choice between only Zyprexa and Risperdal I'd go for Risperdal, as Zyprexa has a high tendency to push people into http://www.namiscc.org/News/2003/Summer/ZyprexaLinkToDiabetes.htm">NIDDM.


Only a few of the people I work with are prescribed Zyprexa. A number of them still use the older ("typical") antipsychotics such as Haldol and Trilafon, typically in conjunction with newer antipsychotics (typically because they have been using these drugs for many years with success and attempts to wean them off of them have been problematic). Risperdal and Abilify are the most common atypical antipsychotics in use in my program currently.