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by DavidSJ 1120 days ago
But this study doesn't say the opposite. It fails to show an effect. That's different from proving the absence of an effect.

This was my first thought, jaded as I am from bad scientific reporting (such as the linked article) which doesn’t distinguish between these two cases, so I had a look at the actual study.

In this case, it looks like the 95% confidence interval just barely overlaps the null hypothesis, however the mean effect favors placebo:

The mixed-effects model showed no evidence of effect of group assignment on post-infusion MADRS scores at 1 to 3 days post-infusion (-5.82, 95% CI -13.3 to 1.64, p=0.13).

(See also figure 2, which clarifies the direction of effect.)

So, potential methodological issues aside, I’d actually consider this evidence against a strong benefit relative to placebo, and possibly very weak evidence of harm.