St John's wort, conventional medication, and placebo: An egregious double standard

Complementary Therapies in Medicine

Volumn 11, Issue 3, 2003, Pages 193-195

  Kirsch, Irving ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ANTIDEPRESSANT AGENT; HYPERICUM PERFORATUM EXTRACT; PLACEBO; SEROTONIN UPTAKE INHIBITOR; SERTRALINE; VALERIAN;

ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE; ARTICLE; CLINICAL RESEARCH; CLINICAL TRIAL; DEPRESSION; DOSE RESPONSE; DRUG EFFICACY; HUMAN; HYPERICUM PERFORATUM; PRESCRIPTION; RATING SCALE; SIDE EFFECT; STANDARDIZATION; SYMPTOMATOLOGY; VALERIANA;

EID: 0344445475     PISSN: 09652299     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/S0965-2299(03)00109-2     Document Type: Short Survey

References (9)

1. Fisher S, Greenberg RP. How sound is the double-blind design for evaluating psychotropic drugs. J Nerv Ment Dis 1993; 181: 345-350.
2. Hypericum Depression Trial Study Group. Effect of hypericum perforatum (St John's wort) in major depressive disorder. J Am Med Assoc 2002; 287: 1807-1814.
3. Kirsch I, Moore TJ, Scoboria A, Nicholls SS. The emperor's new drugs: An analysis of antidepressant medication data submitted to the FDA. In: Prevention and treatment. Available on the World Wide Web: http://www.journals.apa.org/prevention/volume5/pre0050023a.html, 2002.
4. Kirsch I, Sapirstein G. Listening to Prozac but hearing placebo: A meta-analysis of antidepressant medication. In: Prevention and Treatment, vol. 1. Article 0002a. Available on the World Wide Web: http://www.journals.apa.org/prevention/volume1/pre0010002a.html, 1998.
5. Kupfer DJ, Frank E. Placebo in clinical trials for depression. J Am Med Assoc 2002; 287: 1853-1854.
6. Linde K, Ramirez G, Mulrow CD, Weidenhammer W, Melchart D. St John's wort for depression - an overview and meta-analysis of randomised clinical trials. Br Med J 1996; 313: 253-258.
7. Margraf J, Ehlers A, Roth WT, Clark DB, Sheikh J, Agras WS et al. How "blind" are double-blind studies? J Consult Clin Psychol 1991; 59: 184-187.
8. Melander H, Ahlqvist-Rastad J, Meijer G, Beermann B. Evidence b(i)ased medicine - selective reporting from studies sponsored by pharmaceutical industry: review of studies in new drug applications. Br Med J 2003; 326: 1171-1173.
9. Mulrow CD, Williams JW Jr, Trivedi M, Chiquette E, Aguilar C, Cornell JE et al. Treatment of depression: Newer pharmacotherapies. Evidence Report/Technology Assessment No. 7. (Prepared by the San Antonio Evidence-Based Practice Center based at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio under Contract 290-97-0012.) AHCPR Publication No. 99-E014. Rockville, MD: Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, 1999.