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Article: When is a placebo effect not an effect?
- Article from:
- Clinical Medicine
- Article date:
- October 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright Royal College of Physicians Oct 2007. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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ABSTRACT - It is often stated, paradoxically, that a treatment is not effective when trials have shown a placebo effect. This should be rephrased 'that the tested treatment is not more effective than the placebo' if we are not to confuse ourselves and the public in the current debate on complementary and alternative medicine.
KEY WORDS: acupuncture, alternative medicine, pain, placebo
The otherwise excellent review of reviews on the effect of acupuncture published in the August 2006 issue of Clinical Medicine contains a conflict in terms that needs to be resolved.1 On page one Derry et al state that the reviews 'provide no robust evidence that acupuncture works'. On the same page, however, ...