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WHAT'S IN THAT PILL? | Many Chicago docs say they give out placebos
January 4, 2008
BY JIM RITTER Health Reporter /jritter@suntimes.com
Nearly half of Chicago doctors who responded to a survey say they have given dummy pills or other placebo treatments to patients -- a practice some ethicists find troubling.
In the survey, 48 percent said they have given at least one treatment when there was no evidence it would work. Only 12 percent said placebos never should be used.
University of Chicago researchers surveyed 466 internists at the U. of C., Northwestern University and University of Illinois at Chicago. Fifty percent responded to the survey, published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
Placebo treatments included vitamins, herbal supplements, saline infusions, dummy pills and doses of medicine too low to be effective.
One of the most common placebo treatments was giving antibiotics for viral infections that don't respond to antibiotics.
Some ethicists oppose deception
A placebo is a harmless pill or procedure that has no known physical benefit. Patients often get better because they believe in the treatment. For example, one study found that placebo pills work 80 percent as well as antidepressants.
Another study found that patients respond to placebo pain pills by producing natural substances that act like opiate drugs, said lead researcher Rachel Sherman.
In her survey, doctors said placebos can calm a patient; supplement other treatments; satisfy a patient's unjustified demand for medication; control pain, etc. A few doctors said they give placebos just to get the patient to stop complaining.
Some ethicists say the practice deceives patients and violates their right to be fully informed. The American Medical Association says a doctor should use a placebo only if the patient is told and agrees to it. A placebo must not be given "merely to mollify a difficult patient."
Researchers also asked doctors about other therapies. Eighty-three percent said meditation and yoga can be beneficial, followed by biofeedback, 76 percent; good emotional health, 74 percent; complementary and alternative medicine, 69 percent; social support system, 65 percent, and prayer or spirituality, 53 percent.
WHAT'S IN THAT PILL? | Many Chicago docs say they give out placebos
January 4, 2008
BY JIM RITTER Health Reporter /jritter@suntimes.com
Nearly half of Chicago doctors who responded to a survey say they have given dummy pills or other placebo treatments to patients -- a practice some ethicists find troubling.
In the survey, 48 percent said they have given at least one treatment when there was no evidence it would work. Only 12 percent said placebos never should be used.
University of Chicago researchers surveyed 466 internists at the U. of C., Northwestern University and University of Illinois at Chicago. Fifty percent responded to the survey, published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
Placebo treatments included vitamins, herbal supplements, saline infusions, dummy pills and doses of medicine too low to be effective.
One of the most common placebo treatments was giving antibiotics for viral infections that don't respond to antibiotics.
Some ethicists oppose deception
A placebo is a harmless pill or procedure that has no known physical benefit. Patients often get better because they believe in the treatment. For example, one study found that placebo pills work 80 percent as well as antidepressants.
Another study found that patients respond to placebo pain pills by producing natural substances that act like opiate drugs, said lead researcher Rachel Sherman.
In her survey, doctors said placebos can calm a patient; supplement other treatments; satisfy a patient's unjustified demand for medication; control pain, etc. A few doctors said they give placebos just to get the patient to stop complaining.
Some ethicists say the practice deceives patients and violates their right to be fully informed. The American Medical Association says a doctor should use a placebo only if the patient is told and agrees to it. A placebo must not be given "merely to mollify a difficult patient."
Researchers also asked doctors about other therapies. Eighty-three percent said meditation and yoga can be beneficial, followed by biofeedback, 76 percent; good emotional health, 74 percent; complementary and alternative medicine, 69 percent; social support system, 65 percent, and prayer or spirituality, 53 percent.