| | What
can you conclude about Drug X?
You answered:
 Drug
X is effective, as shown by its superiority to morphine, 6
mg.
CORRECT
Drug
X is effective, as shown by its superiority to morphine,
6 mg. The difference between Drug X and morphine, 6 mg,
as well as the difference between morphine 12 mg and 6 mg,
demonstrate assay sensitivity. A placebo would have been
necessary if Drug X were a weaker analgesic with efficacy
similar to the low dose of morphine. In addition to doses
of a test drug, a standard analgesic, and a placebo, most
analgesic studies include additional treatment groups or
controls that are chosen to further elucidate the major
research question. For example, when evaluating a range
of doses of test analgesic, one might add additional doses
of standard analgesic spanning that analgesic range, both
to serve as a comparative yardstick and to verify that the
study methods can separate high from moderate analgesic
doses.
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