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by darkerside
2990 days ago
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As a layman, I find it surprising that SSRIs were clinically approved for treatment based on a 1 in 7 chance of demonstrating positive effects. Are other medications anywhere near as ineffective? Whether antibiotics, Tylenol, or Viagra, I can't imagine any of those being effective in less than, say, 5 out of 7 cases. |
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Yes. Reviews suggest that statins have an NNT of between 50 and 200 depending on the patient's underlying risk for cardiovascular disease. Coronary stents are probably useless. Reviews of antibiotics, antivirals and corticosteroids show a wide range of NNTs and often show no positive effect.
The drug approval system has a relatively high bar for safety, but a relatively low bar for efficacy. A drug manufacturer only has to prove that their drug is effective for one particular cohort of patients with a particular disease, but doctors are then free to prescribe the drug to any patient with any disease. Many surgical interventions are never subject to a randomised controlled trial.
http://www.thennt.com/home-nnt/