Whose Gold Standard?

Decision Resources has recently claimed that Zyprexa will remain the “gold standard” for schizophrenia treatment. Philip Dawdy found such a finding rather odd, as neither he nor many others (including myself) had ever found Zyprexa to be the most supported schizophrenia treatment. Most research indicates that Zyprexa works roughly as well as other medications, with its slight efficacy advantages in some studies (which may be based on biased research) likely offset by its tendency to induce weight gain and diabetes. In addition, the same consulting firm has also claimed that Seroquel will become the “gold standard” for treating bipolar depression by 2010.

Well, Brandweek NRX is now reporting that Decision Resources is claiming that the yet-to-be-FDA-approved Acomplia is set to become the new (you guessed it) “gold standard” in treating obesity. Never mind the side effects of depression and anxiety. Text of the press release can be seen here.

It would appear that Decision Resources likes to bandy about the term “gold standard” quite a bit in their reports. In fact, look what happens when you combine “gold standard” with “Decision Resources” – click here.

I’m not really sure what this company actually does and I’m not going to take much time to figure it out. I just find it odd when a company keeps churning out reports labeling various treatments as being the “gold standard” in the absence of any good clinical trial evidence.