Reply to Letter to the Editor "Problems With Ensuring a Double Blind"

Letter to the Editor

Sir: Drs. Kumar and Oakley-Browne raised 2 concerns about our study design. The first is related to the possibility of breaking the blind of the study given the different side effect profiles of fluvoxamine and venlafaxine, since the 2 drugs have different mechanisms of action. To address this observation, we point out the following considerations: Firstly, even if the 2 drugs belong to different classes of antidepressants, it should be noted that venlafaxine is a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, thus sharing with fluvoxamine the action on serotonin reuptake.