TY - JOUR
T1 - The lie that heals
T2 - The ethics of giving placebos
AU - Brody, H.
PY - 1982
Y1 - 1982
N2 - The 170-year long debate in the medical literature about the ethics of prescribing placebos in medical therapeutics needs to be reevaluated in light of recent placebo research and improved understanding of the placebo effect as an integral part of the doctor-patient relationship. It has traditionally been assumed that deception is an indispensible component of successful placebo use. Therefore, placebos have been attacked because they are deceptive, and defended on the grounds that the deception is illusory or that the beneficent intentions of the physician justify the deception. However, a proper understanding of the placebo effect shows that deception need play no essential role in eliciting this powerful therapeutic modality; physicians can use nondeceptive means to promote a positive placebo response in their patients.
AB - The 170-year long debate in the medical literature about the ethics of prescribing placebos in medical therapeutics needs to be reevaluated in light of recent placebo research and improved understanding of the placebo effect as an integral part of the doctor-patient relationship. It has traditionally been assumed that deception is an indispensible component of successful placebo use. Therefore, placebos have been attacked because they are deceptive, and defended on the grounds that the deception is illusory or that the beneficent intentions of the physician justify the deception. However, a proper understanding of the placebo effect shows that deception need play no essential role in eliciting this powerful therapeutic modality; physicians can use nondeceptive means to promote a positive placebo response in their patients.
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U2 - 10.7326/0003-4819-97-1-112
DO - 10.7326/0003-4819-97-1-112
M3 - Article
C2 - 7046551
AN - SCOPUS:0019986658
SN - 0003-4819
VL - 97
SP - 112
EP - 118
JO - Annals of internal medicine
JF - Annals of internal medicine
IS - 1
ER -