SEVERAL perennial controversies are being given fresh impetus by news that antidepressant drugs may help only a small number of those who are prescribed them.
Irving Kirsch’s team at the University of Hull, UK, reviewed nearly 50 studies of the efficacy of four widely prescribed antidepressants. In a paper published in PLoS Medicine last week, the researchers conclude that the drugs work only in the most severe cases, with little difference otherwise from a placebo. The drugs are Eli Lilly’s Prozac, GlaxoSmithKline’s Seroxat, Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Serzone and Wyeth’s Effexor.
Drug companies have challenged the finding, with one spokesman saying that…
