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Isaac M. Marks, MD
(Corresponding Author) Institute of Psychiatry London SE58AF, England

Alfonso De Albuquerque, MD
Hopital Julio de Matos Lisbon, Portugal

Jean Cottraux, MD
Hôpital Neurologique 58 Blvd Pinel Lyon 3e, France

Valentim Gentil, MD, PhD
Departamento Psychiatria Faculdade de Medicine Ave Dr Arnaldo 455 01246 Sao Paulo, Brazil

John Greist, MD
Department of Psychiatry University of Wisconsin 600 Highland Ave Madison, WI 53792

Iver Hand, MD
Department of Psychiatry Hamburg University Martinistrasse 20 Hamburg 2000, West Germany

Robert L. Liberman, MD
UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute 760 Westwood Plaza Los Angeles, CA 90024

Joao S. Relvas, MD
Coimbra University Hospital Coimbra 3049, Portugal

Adolf TobeÑa, MD
Department of Medical Psychology Autonomous University of Barcelona Bellaterra, Spain

Peter Tyrer, MD
Saint Charles Hospital London W106DZ, England

Hans-Ulrich Wittchen, PhD
Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry Kraeplinstrasse 19 8000 Munich, West Germany

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1989;46(7):668-670.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

Psychiatrists and psychologists in several countries have helped to compose this letter, which critiques recent reports (in the May 1988 ARCHIVES, pp 407-443) by Klerman,¹ Ballenger et al,² Noyes et al,³ Pecknold et al,⁴ and Lesser et al.⁵

The evaluation of treatment outcome is a complex process, and the same data can lead different observers to contrasting conclusions, as is highlighted by this large trial reported by respected researchers. All five articles claim that alprazolam is "effective," a claim made without qualification in the abstract of Klerman's article.¹ Pecknold et al⁴ even recommend in their abstract that the administration of medication should last at least 6 months, with subsequent taper of at least 8 weeks. This claim of "efficacy" is misleading given the arguable interpretation of the data presented and that busy clinicians often have to rely on abstracts more . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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