The experimental drug linaclotide can relieve some cases of chronic constipation, but the majority of patients showed no significant benefit, according to the results of two studies published in the August 11th New England Journal of Medicine. More than 21 percent of the volunteers showed improvement if they took the drug. Among patients given a placebo, the rate was no higher than six percent. But the chief author, Dr. Anthony Lembo, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, said the satisfaction rate among patients was much higher.
