I am troubled by the suggestion that we should not "expose" ineffective
treatments for fear of undermining the placebo effect. I have no
trouble with the short-term implications. After all, if there really is
no effective treatment for a problem, and if the ineffective treatment
really does no harm and really does help some people to feel better,
then there is certainly no problem I can see with using the placebo
effect. Physicians have been doing for years, at least so I have been
told.
Yet what about the long-term implications of a policy of not publicizing
that a treatment does not work. I assume the students would want the
scientific community to continue testing and developing new treatments.
After all, we all want treatments that work. But if the scientists find
that a treatment does not work, what are the scientists to do? Keep it
to themselves so that the information will not disrupt the placebo
effect? Only share it with other scientists? How would that even be
possible, in our modern, media-rich society? And would these scientists
even be considered ethical if they kept the information to themselves?
I do not think so.
Another concern I have is the safety issue. How do we know that
ineffective treatments are safe? Who is going to spend the resources to
test a treatment for safety, once it is determined that it does not
work?
I believe that not uncovering ineffective treatments has very dangerous
implications for all of society. Although I do not think the above is
what I would have said to my class if I had received that question,
before I had a chance to think about it, I believe I would say this now.
Jeffrey Nagelbush
Ferris State University
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