Reuters (6/21, Norton) reported that according to a data analysis published online May 15 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, report that clinical trials of schizophrenia medications reveal that increasing numbers of participants appear to be responding to the comparison placebos which contain no active medication whatsoever. Researchers at the US Food and Drug Administration arrived at that conclusion after examining 32 clinical trials of pharmaceutical company data submitted to FDA during the years 1991 to 2008. Review author Thomas P. Laughren, MD, pointed out the importance of discovering the reasons why responses to placebo are increasing. The failure likelihood of clinical studies with bigger placebo responses is increased and may discourage pharmaceutical makers from development of new medications for schizophrenia.
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— “Rising placebo response seen in schizophrenia trials, “Amy Norton, Reuters, June 21, 2012.