This week, Peter Simons covers a study of almost 15,000 ECT users which found that the treatment did not reduce suicide risk compared with usual care, as well as an audit of ECT use in England which found very little oversight and a lack of outcome measures. He also covers a pharmaceutical industry-sponsored study that tested a new way to reduce the placebo effect so that newly developed drugs appear more effective.

• New Study Finds ECT Ineffective for Reducing Suicide Risk
• Audit of Electroconvulsive Therapy Reveals Poor Administration and Monitoring
• Researchers Attempt to Reduce the Placebo Effect in Drug Trials

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