Been thinking about this for no particular reason, specifically like sugar pills. Do doctors just prescribe you a medication but they’re actually lying to you? Is that legal? Or are you made aware they’re placebos and they still work? Is that possible? Are they only for people who have a legal guardian that can keep the secret? I feel like it should be obvious but I really don’t know.
(also sorry if flair is wrong, i don’t really know where medicine would fall here)
In: Chemistry
No, doctors cannot give you a placebo if they tell you they’re giving you medication. That’s both illegal and a violation of medical ethics. Placebos are used in the context of drug trials as a control group for the drug that’s being tested. Participants in drug trials know that they might be receiving either the actual drug or the placebo but not they’re not told which one. In other words, they know that they might be getting a placebo and still choose to participate in the study.
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