A recent major trial comparing drugs with talk therapy in children with attention-deficit disorder also showed that the drugs worked better.

New studies are needed to directly compare clot-busting drugs and other therapies like angioplasty in people 75 and older, the researchers said.

And a range of studies comparing drugs and psychotherapy have shown that psychotherapy is more effective in preventing relapse.

Second, more studies are needed to compare different drugs and determine whether some work better than others in particular types of patients.

All the studies had been published in peer-reviewed medical journals that directly compared calcium channel blockers and other antihypertensive drugs.

A common problem when comparing drugs is that different medications can be of different potency.

More useful, she said, are sites that allow you to compare drugs.

There is little research comparing anti-inflammatory drugs with acetaminophen for soreness and other athletic injuries.

Another recent study, comparing cholesterol-reducing drugs, found that heavy doses of Lipitor significantly reduce the risk of dying from heart disease (front page, March 9).

With studies comparing various drugs, federal officials could make "simplistic, one-size-fits-all decisions about which patients should have access to new medicines," the industry said.