Drug research accomplishments

Creativity is a quality that cannot be developed through formal training. Creativity requires bold conjecture and it expresses itself in newer, better ways to accomplish the same goals. An example of creativity in clinical drug research might involve the development of a variable... 

Progress in drug research demands hands-on efforts, and success can require several pairs of hands. Moreover, many interviewers are also accomplished chemists who do benchwork, or did so for decades, despite then-graduate degrees, corporate ranks, and scientific accomplishments. 

Another trick was to publish only some of the data from a clinical trial, a manoeuvre that researchers call cherry-picking the data. Some clinical trials are conducted in more than one location. These are called multi-centre studies. Multi-centre studies make it easier to find sufficient patients to conduct the trial. They also make it easier to cherry-pick the data. For example, one multi-centre study of Prozac was presented to the FDA as showing a drug-placebo difference of three points on the Hamilton scale. When data from this clinical trial was published, the difference was reported as 15 points - a five-times increase in effectiveness. How was this magical augmentation of the benefits of Prozac accomplished The full study was conducted on 245 patients. The published paper reported data from only 27 of these patients. In the published version, the data from the bulk of the patients were left out, making the drug seem much more effective than it really was. 

Some observers speculate that the Russians used a drug unknown to the rest of the world to accomplish the theater rescue. Perhaps a combination of drugs was used. I found a research report that describes certain compounds that can partially block the respiratory depression, produced by sufentanil in rats, without interfering with the anesthetic effects. Dr. Stanley found this interesting but was dubious about its applicability to humans. It would be nice to have more data. 

MDMA is most often taken orally in a typical dose range per tablet of 50 to 100 mg.57 58 Neurotoxicity of MDMA to serotonergic systems has been demonstrated in animal studies therefore for ethical reasons most research has been accomplished using light to heavy MDMA users. Methodological confounds associated with this include the sometimes extensive previous or concurrent use of other drugs, the existence of premorbid psychiatric syndromes often not explored or reported, and variability in the components of sheet drugs sold as ecstasy. ... 

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