With about 230 doctors as respondents, the survey revealed that they have administered their patients with placebo drugs, which are mostly sugar pills with no medicinal effects whatsoever. They are administered to patients, with doctors adhering to the belief of the relationship between the mind and the body, with the patient's belief in being treated influencing their actual physical condition and recovery.
The survey concluded that the doctors that prescribed their patients with the placebo drugs used many variations such as vitamins, low-dose drugs, and even the simple sugar pills. It also revealed that 20 percent of the doctors prescribed the drugs to calm patients, while 15 percent did so to merely satisfy what was termed as patients' "unjustified" claims and demands. Six percent reportedly did so to make their patients "stop complaining."
"Placebos have been used in medicine since ancient times and remain both clinically relevant and philosophically interesting," U.S. News & World Report quoted co-author Rachel Sherman, a medical student at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. "In addition to their recognized use as controls in clinical trials, this study suggests that placebos themselves are viewed as therapeutic tools in medical practice."
The revelations of the study did not bode well, however, with all members of the medical field, as there were some who were concerned with the ethical questions of what has been a controversial issue.
"I think it's unethical," WebMD quoted John Kusek, Ph.D., of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease.
"There's still an honesty you have to have whether they're in trial or they're a patient of yours," he said.
The study did not focus on the frequency that doctors have prescribed placebos to their patients.
