The .Plan

The Guatemala City airport has wireless Internet. Amazing.

Today, the Journal of the American Medical Association published a study on combined pharmaco- and behavioral therapy for alcohol dependence. One of the study’s bottom-line findings:

Acamprosate showed no significant effect on drinking vs placebo, either by itself or with any combination of naltrexone, CBI, or both.
–Raymond Anton et al, “Combined Pharmacotherapies and Behavioral Interventions for Alcohol Dependence”, Journal of the American Medical Association, May 3, 2006

Oopsie. Guess who doesn’t like the findings?

In a statement, Campral marketer Forest Laboratories Inc. said the study should be viewed as “a single data point.”
–Denise Gellene, “Placebo Is Called Just as Effective as Alcoholism Drug”, Los Angeles Times, May 3, 2006

The study enrolled 1,400 patients geographically dispersed across 11 sites and had excellent randomization, medication adherence rates, and minimal loss-to-follow-up.

Hmm. I can’t remember any time a pharmaceutical company said “It’s just one data point” in response to a ‘positive’ study about its product.