Thread by @EikoFried

Depression trial, n=14 Ayahuasca, n=15 placebo.

8/14 vomited, & 4/14 hospitalized for an entire week.

"Overall, this study brings new evidence supporting the safety and therapeutic value of psychedelics."

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Also, in a group of treatment-resistant folks who have a median time of 11 YEARS for which they suffered from depression, can we please stop funding and publishing trials with 7 DAYS follow-up? How is this still a thing?

doi.org/10.1017/S00332…

The list is quite long.
-lots of tests for outcomes w/o multiple testing
-50% of pvals in abstract are 0.04 wink wink
-no drug*time interaction

Perhaps biggest issue: authors say in discussion that blinding was successful because 5/14 in placebo thought they got A. Supplementary shows that ALL in A group thought they got A (first and last column).

I can't interpret that as anything else but misleading on purpose.

For this study, treatment resistant folks were taken off their meds for a few weeks (washout) and put into a dark room for hours & given an active placebo. In placebo group, 73% developed anxiety, 53% headaches. This may explain why some mistook placebo for A.

This isn't the most generous reading of the article. There are real strengths here, including recruiting folks naive to A & providing active placebo to try to ensure blinding, as well as detailed supplementary. But the conclusions are really problematic and at odds w findings.