Anxiety

[Guest]

Dr.,

It seems the new emphasis in the world of anti-depressants is "remsission" and every new drug is claiming higher "remission rates" than the previous, with Cymbalta and Lexapro being the latest. However, response rates do not appear to have improved at all from previous drugs which makes the notion of improved effectiveness very dubious.

The definition of remission does not seem to be changing (usually HAMD <=7)and the mean HAMD score of participants seems to be approx. the same, but it still seems very suspicious, as if they are changining something else about these trials to improve remission rates. Do you have any comment on the growing "remission rates" these new drugs claim compared to their predecessors? Thanks as always.