Comparison of Schizophrenia Drugs Often Favors Firm Funding Study

[MountainLaurel]

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.

But when Janssen sponsored its own studies comparing the two drugs, Risperdal came out ahead in three out of four.

In fact, when psychiatrist John Davis analyzed every publicly available trial funded by the pharmaceutical industry pitting five new antipsychotic drugs against one another, nine in 10 showed that the best drug was the one made by the company funding the study.

"On the basis of these contrasting findings in head-to-head trials, it appears that whichever company sponsors the trial produces the better antipsychotic drug," Davis and others wrote in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

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

:yoiks:

[MADem]

1. Why, I am SHOCKED!!! I'll bet the same thing happens for

cholesterol medicine, boner medicine, and allergy medicine!!!!

Now WHO woulda thunk it???? :sarcasm:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. just wait. it is about to get worse.

Bushista FDA and ultrabigPharma have cut a deal which will allow the drug companies to screen school kids for ADHD AND prescribe the appropriate SOMA for the kids. I do not believe that the parents have an opt-out option.

Guess how many kids will be stuck on big pharma drugs?

[RaleighNCDUer]

4. Seeing this reminded me of another news story about kids and

PE class, how so few get any at all.

It occurs to me that the diagnosing of ADHD began to skyrocket at the same time that schools began dropping PE reguirements. How many of those kids were mis-diagnosed simply because they are kids and they need to get up and run around and blow off energy on a regular basis? Kids are not biologically meant to sit in classrooms for six or seven straight hours.

[MountainLaurel]

6. True dat

:applause:

[leesa]

3. Wow! Someone should let the FDA know!

[MountainLaurel]

5. I'm sure they'll get right to it

Once they get off their knees and wipe the remnants of Big Pharma's semen off their lips.