Placebos and ethics
Nothing to do with Weed - but an equally interesting question is If someone is being helped by the placebo effect, should you tell them its a placebo?
The context is as follows - There are a number of drugs that, after wider studies, turn out to be no better than placebos (usually for advanced pain relief). The problem with placebos, however, is that if you tell people that it is a placebo, it stops working.
Soooo, if the miracle drug turns out to not actually be so miraculous (equivalent to a placebo in trials), do you tell your patients that it is basically a placebo, thus denying them the benefits of the placebo effect?
The context is as follows - There are a number of drugs that, after wider studies, turn out to be no better than placebos (usually for advanced pain relief). The problem with placebos, however, is that if you tell people that it is a placebo, it stops working.
Soooo, if the miracle drug turns out to not actually be so miraculous (equivalent to a placebo in trials), do you tell your patients that it is basically a placebo, thus denying them the benefits of the placebo effect?
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