In an interview in the December 16 New Scientist (ungated for now here), psychiatrist Patrick Lemoine explains how what he sells is partly illusion: How much do doctors use placebo therapy? The most reliable estimates suggest that around 35 to 40 per cent of all official prescriptions are impure placebos, by which I mean pharmacologically inactive substances contaminated with a tiny amount of active ingredient – not enough to have a clinical effect, but enough for doctors to claim it does. …
A Honest Doctor, Sort Of
A Honest Doctor, Sort Of
A Honest Doctor, Sort Of
In an interview in the December 16 New Scientist (ungated for now here), psychiatrist Patrick Lemoine explains how what he sells is partly illusion: How much do doctors use placebo therapy? The most reliable estimates suggest that around 35 to 40 per cent of all official prescriptions are impure placebos, by which I mean pharmacologically inactive substances contaminated with a tiny amount of active ingredient – not enough to have a clinical effect, but enough for doctors to claim it does. …
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