What is the truth about antidepressant drugs? A recent inquiry revealed that over a third of the studies that have been conducted on the effectiveness of drugs like Prozac and Paxil have been concealed, due to unfavorable results. Such a selective publication could mislead doctors into thinking that the medicine they are prescribing is more efficient than it really is.

According to the New England Journal of Medicine, 31 % of the studies have not been published. However, 37 studies presented to the Food and Drug Administration have indeed been published, but all with positive results, in a clear attempt to create an unrealistic image of the drugs' effectiveness and the benefits of using them. Moreover, even the few studies with negative results that have been published have been turned in such a way that the reader would think the outcome was actually a positive one.

It we take a look at the overall results as they appear in the published literature, 94 % percent of the drug tests were successful, but according to the Food and Drug Administration reports, the real figures show that only 51 % of the conducted studies were positive. For the time being, it is hard to put the blame on someone in particular, as responsibility could be divided among authors, sponsors and journal editors.

Selective publications have been a constant practice for some time now, but drug companies blame it on the publishers rather than on themselves. Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline representatives have said they completely supported the full registration and communication of the clinical trial results, no matter the outcome, without trying to create a false image of their products.

Be that as it may, there has to be someone responsible for the mess created, but that someone is pretty hard to find considering all the parts involved declined the allegations and passed on the blame. As for the New England Journal of Medicine, they have started a negative result publishing campaign meant to put an end to the misleading and selective publications.