Inaccurate Advertising Hurts
I’m late to the game on this post, and this material has been covered well on other sites. In case you’ve missed it, a recent meta-analysis indicated that the effect of Cymbalta on pain in depression relative to placebo was somewhere between nothing and minimal. This was noted on Furious Seasons, the WSJ Health Blog, and Pharmalot. According to the Pharmalot post, it also appears that Lilly has not fully disclosed all relevant data in Cymbalta’s clinical trials, which contradicts Lilly’s pledge to share all data openly.
This is apparently another example of how we cannot trust that pharmaceutical advertising is any more accurate than advertising for quick weight-loss programs, exercise equipment, or get-rich-quick schemes. Caveat emptor.
Props to John Mack for noting many months ago that the Depression Hurts campaign reeked of off-label marketing.