The New Zealand Pharmaceutical Management Agency ("PHARMAC") was originally established under the Health and Disabilities Services Act (1993) (NZ) (now the Public Health and Disability Act 2000 (NZ)) with the specific purpose of improving the management of Government expenditure on pharmaceuticals already approved on safety and efficacy grounds.
It is controversial, and opposition to it has been based on ethical, legal, safety, and efficacy grounds.
Safety of a drug targeting a host response mechanism predicted to be relevant during ebolavirus infection seems too weak as a justification considering the potentially disastrous consequences of a failure in efficacy on the ground.
In human epilepsy, many AEDs are used for the management of seizures but phenobarbital remains one of the most important; meta-analyses of RCTs found that only minor differences occur on the grounds of efficacy between phenobarbital and other established AEDs [ 38].
Given the nature of the study a stringent criterion has been set for early termination of the trial on grounds of efficacy, namely p<0.001 for both the primary outcomes, else continuation of the trial being recommended.
As the more elegant and eloquent of the Rachmaninoff pair (a judgment based solely on aesthetic grounds, not religious efficacy), the Vespers is recorded with some frequency.
Clinical information on the grounds of their efficacy remains limited, with most evidence derived from non-blinded non-randomized uncontrolled trials and case series [ 6].
It is difficult, though, for health professionals to give clear guidance to pregnant women on using NRT when the safety of NRT in pregnancy is justified primarily on theoretical grounds and its efficacy has not been established.
There is consistent evidence that atomoxetine is superior to placebo while no clear differences have been found between atomoxetine and MPH on the grounds of clinical efficacy in terms of standard measures of ADHD symptom control [ 21] though there has been increasing evidence in favour of MPH [ 22].
But until other international organizations start working with local collaborators in Haiti, and make efforts to appreciate economic and sociological dynamics "on the ground", the efficacy of relief work will continue to be questioned.
