As the use of placebos increases, so does the debate over the ethicality of switching oblivious patients’ medications with placebos. A wide variety of doctors believe the switch is completely ethical and helpful, especially when confronting the opioid epidemic, while others claim “it is unethical to deceive patients by prescribing fake treatments,” (Marchant) especially when it can negatively impact a doctor-patient relationship if the patient is unaware.
When my mother’s friend a simple, non-invasive surgery, she was prescribed over eighty painkiller pills, even though she had next to no pain. According to Jo Marchant in “A Placebo Treatment for Pain,” more and more opioids like Vicodin and Oxycontin are being prescribed for simple problems
When my mother’s friend a simple, non-invasive surgery, she was prescribed over eighty painkiller pills, even though she had next to no pain. According to Jo Marchant in “A Placebo Treatment for Pain,” more and more opioids like Vicodin and Oxycontin are being prescribed for simple problems