The Lost Decade of Nesiritide

The concept of the “lost decade” is typically attributed to the Japanese economy in the 1990s, when there was exceptionally little or weak economic growth, amid unprofitable zombie firms and liquidity traps.1 With the financial collapse in the United States in 2008, some economists have forecast the potential for a similar circumstance in this country.2 But there are other places to find lost decades.Unfortunately, the “lost decade” can now also be applied to the deficient clinical development of certain pharmaceutical agents. In this issue of the Journal, O'Connor and colleagues3 report the results of a large, randomized, placebo-controlled trial . . .