This is the eleventh installment of our look at the increasingly high placebo response that is plaguing clinical trials in analgesia and psychiatry. Read the rest of the posts in the series here. As we discussed last week, there are so many trial-related details that can influence the magnitude of the placebo response. But there...
This is the tenth installment of our look at the increasingly high placebo response that is plaguing clinical trials in analgesia and psychiatry. Catch up on the other posts in the series here. Over the last two weeks we’ve discussed several specific strategies to reduce the placebo response. One effort that is becoming increasingly popular...
There is a great deal of variability when it comes to osteoarthritis (OA) clinical trial designs. From the type of drug being studied to the regulatory approach of the target market to the optimal route of administration, assessment selections must be carefully tailored to meet the unique needs of each individual trial. 1. Pick the...
This is the ninth installment of our look at the increasingly high placebo response that is plaguing clinical trials in analgesia and psychiatry. View the other posts in the series here. Our last post reviewed several potential strategies to reduce the placebo effect, focusing on excluding high placebo responders and alternative trial designs. Today, we’ll...
This is the eighth installment of our look at the increasingly high placebo response that is plaguing clinical trials in analgesia and psychiatry. Catch up on the rest of the series here. We’re now just over halfway through our Placebo Problem series. So far, we’ve examined the details of the rising placebo response, the mechanisms...
Chances are you’ve either personally dealt with osteoarthritis (OA) or know someone who has. This common type of degenerative joint pain represents both a heavy disease burden and a major opportunity for drug developers. Read on to learn more about: OA’s prevalence Optimal diagnostic criteria for clinical trials Treatment options What OA research looks like...
Our seventh installment of The Placebo Problem continues our look at the increasingly high placebo response that is plaguing clinical trials in analgesia and psychiatry. Check out the other posts here. The placebo response is broad. It goes far beyond the effects of merely consuming a sugar pill; it is the patient’s response to the...
This is the next installment of our look at the increasingly high placebo response that is plaguing clinical trials in analgesia and psychiatry. Check out the other posts here. Over the past few weeks, we’ve discussed the psychological, neurobiological, and genetic mechanisms responsible for the placebo response. Today, we turn to the study designs used...
A trial’s success depends largely on the ability to recruit and retain an adequate number of participants. Recruitment can be especially difficult in opioid clinical trials, due to a variety of factors. Here are seven things you should know about the challenges associated with recruiting patients for opioid trials: 1. Certain necessary aspects of trial...
Opioid analgesics are essential to the management of pain in many patients, but they are also associated with potential risks for abuse, overdose, and diversion, concerns which must be considered in the planning and execution of clinical trials studying these controlled substances. In this paper, we discuss the challenges of conducting clinical trials of controlled...