Misinterpretation of randomized trial evidence: do antidepressants work?

Abstract

On February 29 this year I was due to give a talk about the pharmacological management of depression to a large meeting of psychiatrists. As my radio alarm clock came on I heard the top headline on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme ‘New study suggests that antidepressants don't work’. The headline arose from a meta-analysis published by Irvine Kirsch, Professor of Psychology at the University of Hull, and colleagues (Kirsch et al, 2008).