title: Is it always unethical to use a placebo in a clinical trial?
abstract: Placebos are used in trials to conceal whether a treatment is being given or not and hence to control for the psychosomatic effects of offering treatment. Placebo-controlled trials are controversial. Critics of such trials argue that if a proven effective therapy exists, a placebo should not be used. But proponents argue that placebo trials are still crucial to prove the efficacy and safety of many treatments.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Epidemiology, Biometry, and Informatics at the Medical Faculty of the Martin-Luther-University of Halle-Wittenberg, Germany. andreas.stang@medizin.uni-halle.de
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stang
authors.forename: Hans-Werner
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Hense
authors.forename: Karl-Heinz
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Jöckel
authors.forename: Erick H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.forename: Martin R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Tramèr
mesh_terms: D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006801:Humans; D010919:Placebos; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000941:ethics*
chemical_list: D010919:Placebos