Evidently I'm too lazy to write, so I'll just link to someone else's work.
Wired has a very interesting article regarding the placebo, the "sugar pill" used in drug trials. Basically the pharmaceutical companies are having more difficulties getting drugs passed by the FDA due to what appears to be an increasing efficacy in placebos compared to drugs under test, and even compared to some drugs already on the market.
If research can uncover the mechanism behind the effectiveness of placebos, then in possibly many circumstances doctors could actually help patients with a little artful lying, without resorting to expensive drugs with associated side effects. This is intriguing because (1) what are the ethical implications of lying to a patient to heal them, and (2) what is the density of artful lying required before the placebo response stops working?
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
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