Hi comicgeek --you may have missed the below because I ended up adding it later to an old post. I'm wondering if you think it's possible that there was a misunderstanding? Maybe you could ask your father what he heard?

pdoc said that after a few weeks, the meds for depression and bp1 (he doesn't believe in bp2) work the same as the placebo.

Actually, I don't understand this. This would mean that they do work for the first few weeks and then stop working. When they actually take a few weeks to begin to work in the first place. Is it possible that he said/meant that those who feel better during the first few weeks of taking these meds are feeling better due to a placebo effect, since they don't actually take effect until a few weeks later? This would actually make a lot of sense. I would clarify this with him the next time you see him, because if it really was what you quoted, he was in the midst of a stroke, and although possible, it's highly unlikely.