Dr. Hartwell, who wasn't involved in the study, said social-network trials aren't likely to replace conventional randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trials, the gold-standard for generating medical evidence.

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"There is no plausible reason why it would work where vertebroplasty doesn't work, " said Buchbinder, who calls for blinded trials looking at the benefits of kyphoplasty.

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But progress isn't pretending to be color blind, it's not being blinded by the person's color.

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It looks like the market was so blinded by the huge opportunity ADHD provided that it didn't see all the other uses for Provigil.

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But there hasn't been enough money to get treatment for her mother, who she says is blinded by a cataract, or for one of her sisters who is epileptic.

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