Placebo
In Running the trial
A placebo is a dummy treatment made to look, taste, and feel like the real one but without the active ingredient. Comparing against it separates the effect of the treatment from the effects of expectation and of simply being in a trial. Using a placebo is only ethical when no effective standard treatment is being withheld.
Example
In a trial of a new inhaler, the control group uses an identical-looking inhaler containing no active drug, so neither the participant nor the assessing clinician can tell them apart.
Common questions
- Is it ethical to give someone a placebo?
- It can be, when there is no proven effective treatment for the condition, or when the placebo is added on top of standard care rather than replacing it. Withholding an effective treatment that a participant needs is not acceptable, and ethics committees examine this closely.
Related terms
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