Critique of Studies of Lithium Salts in the Treatment of Mania
WILLIE KAI SHULL M.D.1, and
JOSEPH D. SAPIRA M.D.2
1 Intern at St. Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center of New York, 153 W. 11th St., New York, N. Y. 10011
2 Assistant professor of medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pa.
The authors review all available studies of lithium therapy of mania (comprising 805 patients) to determine whether lithium's pharmacologic efficacy has been demonstrated in the customary manner. All studies reviewed except for one were found to have serious methodological deficiencies. The authors conclude that the available data demonstrate neither efficacy nor inefficacy, primarily because of inadequate experimental design.
