Clinical Trials Reduce Suicide

How is this headline news? How is this news at all? I'll tell you how. The majority of people in the world are morons.

A recent analysis of clinical trial data on nearly 15,000 patients treated with both Paxil and dummy pills revealed a higher frequency of suicidal behavior in young adults treated with the drug, according to the letter.

The FDA reported that there were 11 suicide attempts -- none resulting in death -- among the patients who received Paxil in the trials. Just one of the dummy pill patients attempted suicide.

According to NIMH, the suicide rate in America is about 1 per 10,000 people and the attempted suicide rate is estimated at 8 to 25 times higher. So, why not have a headline screaming Patients on Placebos up to 18* times Less Likely to Attempt Suicide!

* - I'm assuming half the 15,000 got Paxil and half got a placebo. So 1:7500 = 1.3333:10,000 and 25/1.333~=18.