Philosophy
We know that the placebo effect is real. Some people will actually get better if they think they are being treated. It is not that they think they're getting better, they actually are.
So, if I am ill and my doctor thinks that given what he knows of me and my ailment, that it might be good to try a placebo before another treatment which might be more expensive, risky, have serious side effects, can he?
The placebo effect requires deception and deception makes a relationship unequal. Is my doctor my partner in health care or my medical master? If it is the first, it seems that he or she is not legitimate in fooling me, even for my own good because it is an affront to my autonomy, to my being an adult in the relationship. If the doctor occupies a special position in the relationship, like a parent to a child, then it seems ok for him or her to lie and tell me I'm getting a new very effective treatment.
In the case of medical studies where placebos are a necessary part of good double blind study, the participants are told that they may be receiving a placebo, but in this case, it would undermine the effectiveness.
So, would it be ok for the doctor to prescribe a placebo?
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- Ben Goldacre - The Placebo And Nocebo Effects
You're probably familiar with the concept of the placebo effect: you pretend to provide some sort of treatment to a patient (sugar pill, saline shot, shaman chicken dance, homeopathic elixir, etc.), and because there is no actual medicine or treatment,...
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Philosophy
Placebos, Doctors, and Patients
We know that the placebo effect is real. Some people will actually get better if they think they are being treated. It is not that they think they're getting better, they actually are.
So, if I am ill and my doctor thinks that given what he knows of me and my ailment, that it might be good to try a placebo before another treatment which might be more expensive, risky, have serious side effects, can he?
The placebo effect requires deception and deception makes a relationship unequal. Is my doctor my partner in health care or my medical master? If it is the first, it seems that he or she is not legitimate in fooling me, even for my own good because it is an affront to my autonomy, to my being an adult in the relationship. If the doctor occupies a special position in the relationship, like a parent to a child, then it seems ok for him or her to lie and tell me I'm getting a new very effective treatment.
In the case of medical studies where placebos are a necessary part of good double blind study, the participants are told that they may be receiving a placebo, but in this case, it would undermine the effectiveness.
So, would it be ok for the doctor to prescribe a placebo?
- Passing The Plate: Smart Joke Edition
Friends, Today is Einstein's birthday and in his honor, let's pass the plate. Other religions asks for monetary donations, but Comedists tithe jokes. So, for uncle Albert, let's do smart jokes of any variety. My favorite new physics joke:...
- Physician, Heal Myself
This week's Comedist meditation is on doctors. I've been to see physicians several times this week having been diagnosed with Lyme disease. I had all the usual symptoms, fever, chills, a bull's eye rash, and an uncontrollable urge to bathe...
- The Strange Power Of The Placebo Effect
When it comes to the human body, it's taken a few millennia to have a pretty good understanding of the basic anatomy and physiology involved, but by now we do know many of the mechanisms at work. Here is a short history of the study of the nervous...
- Ben Goldacre - The Placebo And Nocebo Effects
You're probably familiar with the concept of the placebo effect: you pretend to provide some sort of treatment to a patient (sugar pill, saline shot, shaman chicken dance, homeopathic elixir, etc.), and because there is no actual medicine or treatment,...
- Salt And Prozac...the Debate Continues
Statistics can be misinterpreted. "What Salt and Prozac Have in Common" by Maia Szalavitz July 15th, 2011 Time Recently, two medical controversies have made headlines: the question of whether too much salt is bad for your health and the debate over...