Go Ad-Free
logoThe People's Perspective on Medicine

Old Drugs Better as Well as Cheaper

The excitement over ketamine, a drug that has been available for decades, mirrors a new analysis of medication effectiveness. The researchers found that older drugs outperform the newest arrivals in many cases, especially when the drugs are compared to placebo controls.

Despite tens of billions of dollars devoted to research and development, pharmaceutical companies have not come up with many breakthroughs in the last decade. Most of the real pharmaceutical advances happened years ago. Huge consolidation within the industry was supposed to bring efficiency to the drug discovery process, but the analysis shows that, for the most part, newer drugs are vastly more expensive but not necessarily better than old standbys.

[Health Affairs, June 3, 2013]

Rate this article
star-fullstar-emptystar-fullstar-emptystar-fullstar-emptystar-fullstar-emptystar-fullstar-emptystar-fullstar-emptystar-fullstar-emptystar-fullstar-emptystar-fullstar-emptystar-fullstar-empty
5- 1 rating
About the Author
Terry Graedon, PhD, is a medical anthropologist and co-host of The People’s Pharmacy radio show, co-author of The People’s Pharmacy syndicated newspaper columns and numerous books, and co-founder of The People’s Pharmacy website. Terry taught in the Duke University School of Nursing and was an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology. She is a Fellow of the Society of Applied Anthropology. Terry is one of the country's leading authorities on the science behind folk remedies..
Tired of the ads on our website?

Now you can browse our website completely ad-free for just $5 / month. Stay up to date on breaking health news and support our work without the distraction of advertisements.

Browse our website ad-free
Join over 150,000 Subscribers at The People's Pharmacy

We're empowering you to make wise decisions about your own health, by providing you with essential health information about both medical and alternative treatment options.