title: When is standard treatment sufficiently active to make use of a placebo-controlled trial unethical?
abstract: Research has demonstrated that double blinding can lessen the potential for bias in study outcomes, such as perceiving a drug as more effective in the experimental arm of a study. Effective double-blinding techniques minimize the influence of investigator and patient expectations.
authors.forename: Hans W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Grünwald
authors.forename: Courtney D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Storm
authors.forename: Geraldine M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Jacobson