One thing that I didn't read in the article, and haven't heard about is whether the placebo effect continues on after the testing phase.
One thing that I could see affecting results is that people are selected for a trial, which may well influence their mindset ("OOh, I'm taking this incredible new drug in a special trial. It is soo much more effective than anything else on the market!") In other words, being part of the experimental group is more important than the placebo or actual drug being tested.
If these drugs are then available via normal channels, I imagine the placebo drug is not distributed, and the results may also not be monitored anymore.
Is there any indication whether this happens? In that packet of anti-depressants, half are placebo and there is no way to tell which is which? Could be cheaper to manufacture and unlikely to be detected. Not too sure of the legalities either...
One thing that I could see affecting results is that people are selected for a trial, which may well influence their mindset ("OOh, I'm taking this incredible new drug in a special trial. It is soo much more effective than anything else on the market!") In other words, being part of the experimental group is more important than the placebo or actual drug being tested.
If these drugs are then available via normal channels, I imagine the placebo drug is not distributed, and the results may also not be monitored anymore.
Is there any indication whether this happens? In that packet of anti-depressants, half are placebo and there is no way to tell which is which? Could be cheaper to manufacture and unlikely to be detected. Not too sure of the legalities either...