Magnitude and pattern of placebo response in clinical trials of antiepileptic medications: Data from the Food and Drug Administration 1996-2016

These FDA-reviewed and source-verified data support and extend prior findings from published literature that response to placebo treatment is noticeably increasing over time, nearly quadrupling in magnitude, while AED efficacy remains the same due to a parallel increase in drug response. The rise in placebo response appears to be an ongoing phenomenon rather than a mere historical artifact. Future design and interpretation of data from clinical trials of investigational antiepileptic drugs can be informed by these observations.