Monday, June 30, 2008

Cymbalta: Good For Whatever Ails You

I don't have time to write much on the topic, suffice to say that John Russell of the Indianapolis Star raises some good questions about Cymbalta, Eli Lilly's antidepressant/antianxiety/analgesic/good for whatever ails you pill.  He calls it a Swiss Army Knife, which is ironic given that Lilly gave out Swiss Army Knives as part of its Viva Zyprexa campaign, likely as a reminder that Zyprexa (much like Cymbalta) was a broad spectrum psychotropic that could be used to treat, um, a lot of things.  Despite Cymbalta being touted as a cure for both depression and all sorts of different types of physical pain, once again it appears that the science has failed to live up to the marketing, at least for treating pain in depressed patients. Russell's article asks whether it is reasonable to expect that one drug could really work for so many different conditions.  It's well worth a read.

Hat Tip: Furious Seasons and an anonymous reader.

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