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The Ethical Dimension

Tomas J. Silber, MD

JAMA. 1979;242(3):245-246.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

IN REQUESTING A MEDLINE search on the subject of placebos in English, German, and Spanish (1976 to 1978), I was surprised by the existence of 1,500 articles. When I looked at the number of articles dealing with the ethics of placebo administration, I was surprised again—only 18 of those articles dealt with that issue. There is incongruity between the richness of the pharmacologic, therapeutic, psychiatric, and research literature on this subject in general and the scant attention paid to the moral issues involved. The understanding of the ethical dimension of the diagnostic and therapeutic use of placebos would benefit from more precise examination.

Definitions

First, what is meant by placebo, impure placebo, and placebo effect? "Placebo" (Latin for "I shall please") is defined in Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary (1977) as "a medication prescribed more for the mental relief of the patient than for its actual effect on his disorders." Dorland's . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
Children's Hospital National Medical Center George Washington University Washington, DC

From the Department of Adolescent Medicine, Children's Hospital National Medical Center, and the Department of Child Health and Development, George Washington University, Washington, DC.

Footnotes
Reprints to Adolescent Medicine Program, Children's Hospital National Medical Center, 111 Michigan Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20010 (Dr Silber).

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