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The fact that an increasing number of medications are unable to beat sugar pills has thrown the industry into crisis. It's not that the old meds are getting weaker, drug developers say. It's as if the placebo effect is somehow getting stronger. Why are inert pills suddenly overwhelming promising new drugs and established medicines alike? Pharma doesn't know, and drugmakers are realizing they need to fully understand the mechanisms behind it so they can design trials that differentiate more clearly between the beneficial effects of their products and the body's innate ability to heal itself. special task force of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health is seeking to stem the crisis by quietly undertaking one of the most ambitious data-sharing efforts in the history of the drug industry.