I don't know whether I should bother to collect the almost countless examples of published reports claiming a medicine helped in an open trial only to find it useless when double-blind studies were done.  But, here's another example.  Pergolide was claimed to be of value in open trials for cocaine dependence only to be found worse than placebo in double-blind studies!

Pergolide Much Worse than Placebo: In a large 255-patient DB PC study, the retention rate of the placebo group (49%) was significantly higher than with either low dose or higher dose pergolide (21%). U. South Carolina. Adverse outcomes in a controlled trial of pergolide for cocaine dependence. Malcolm R, Herron J, Sutherland SE, Brady KT. J Addict Dis. 2001;20(1):81-92

Pergolide Worse than Placebo in DB: A small 12-week single-blind study of cocaine dependents found pergolide of no value and a higher dropout rate than placebo. The authors write, "Although earlier open studies found pergolide to show promise as a treatment for cocaine abuse, this study did not support these earlier findings." U Columbia. Pergolide mesylate for cocaine abuse: a controlled preliminary trial. Levin FR, McDowell D, Evans SM, Brooks D, Spano C, Nunes EV. Am J Addict. 1999 Spring;8(2):120-7

Pergolide No Value in Large DB: A 5-year 361-patient DB PC study of cocaine dependence found neither a low dose nor a higher dose of pergolide of any value. Med U South Carolina. A double-blind, placebo-controlled outpatient trial of pergolide for cocaine dependence. Malcolm R, Kajdasz DK, Herron J, Anton RF, Brady KT. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2000 Aug 1;60(2):161-8

Thomas E. Radecki, M.D., J.D.

modern-psychiatry.com

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