STORY AT-A-GLANCE
The Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) study published in 2006 was the largest and longest-running antidepressant effectiveness trial ever conducted and, importantly, it used real-world patients
The authors claimed an overall cumulative remission rate of 67%, and this study has since been used to prop up the idea that antidepressants work in the real world
However, the widely-made claim that antidepressants work for nearly 7 out of 10 patients in real-world clinical settings is based on scientific misconduct and fraud
In his reanalysis of the STAR*D study, psychologist Ed Pigott and colleagues showed that, had the study protocol been followed, the cumulative remission rate would only have been 35%. Moreover, the STAR*D report omitted the stay-well rate. Only 3% of the 4,041 patients who entered the trial and went into remission were still in remission at the end of their one-year follow-up
Most clinical drug trials have found the effectiveness of antidepressants are on par with placebo, and many studies have debunked the serotonin theory that underpins the use of antidepressants. Meanwhile, large-scale meta-analyses show that physical exercise is the most effective remedy — about 1.5 times more effective than antidepressants — for depression