Comments on: Placebos routinely prescribed? http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2008/10/placebos-routinely-prescribed.html medical blog Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:15:05 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Payne Hertz http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2008/10/placebos-routinely-prescribed.html/comment-page-1#comment-87866 Payne Hertz Fri, 31 Oct 2008 03:05:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2008/10/placebos-routinely-prescribed.html#comment-87866 Using placebos is fraud, plain and simple. Using drugs with dangerous side effects as placebos is malpractice. The idea that any positive result you don't understand or can't explain is due to placebo is ignorance. At any given time, a patient is either feeling better, the same, or worse. To attribute the taking of some pill or therapy to placebo whenever it results in apparent "improvements" and not simple variation in the course of any illness or disorder, wishful thinking on the part of the patient, desire to please the doctor or other reasonable explnations is unscientific. A placebo effect should have to be profound, long term and repeatable before it is labeled as such. That is rarely the case. Using placebos is fraud, plain and simple. Using drugs with dangerous side effects as placebos is malpractice. The idea that any positive result you don’t understand or can’t explain is due to placebo is ignorance. At any given time, a patient is either feeling better, the same, or worse. To attribute the taking of some pill or therapy to placebo whenever it results in apparent “improvements” and not simple variation in the course of any illness or disorder, wishful thinking on the part of the patient, desire to please the doctor or other reasonable explnations is unscientific. A placebo effect should have to be profound, long term and repeatable before it is labeled as such. That is rarely the case.

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2008/10/placebos-routinely-prescribed.html/comment-page-1#comment-87834 Anonymous Wed, 29 Oct 2008 23:32:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2008/10/placebos-routinely-prescribed.html#comment-87834 The real story here is that the AMA says that something is "unethical" which is actually common practice--the AMA does not represent doctors and is not the authoritative voice on what is and is not ethical practice.<br/><br/>Lying to patients presents ethical problems. But sometimes it is possible to give placebos without actually lying. What is wrong with a treatment with a high response rate and no medical risks? Placebos have been an established part of a good physician's practice for thousands of years. The real story here is that the AMA says that something is “unethical” which is actually common practice–the AMA does not represent doctors and is not the authoritative voice on what is and is not ethical practice.

Lying to patients presents ethical problems. But sometimes it is possible to give placebos without actually lying. What is wrong with a treatment with a high response rate and no medical risks? Placebos have been an established part of a good physician’s practice for thousands of years.

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