title: Clinical use of placebo treatments may undermine the trust of patients: a response to Gold and Lichtenberg.
abstract: There is an obvious need for a critical discussion of the concepts 'placebo' and 'placebo effect'. In a recent paper on the use of placebos in clinical medicine, Gold and Lichtenberg note the conceptual difficulties but use the terminology in a confused way throughout their paper. In our response, we demonstrate these problems with a few examples from their paper.
authors.affiliation: Hjelt Institute, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Pekka
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Louhiala
authors.affiliation: Hjelt Institute, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Harri
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hemilä
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of Tampere, Tamepre, Finland.
authors.forename: Raimo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Puustinen
mesh_terms: D026686:Beneficence; D008192:Deception; D006801:Humans; D028681:Moral Obligations; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D015990:Placebo Effect; D010919:Placebos / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D028722:Virtues
chemical_list: D010919:Placebos
keywords: Clinical Ethics