ABC News - 'Expensive' Placebo Work Better than 'Cheap'
also
Journal of the American Medical Association - Commercial Features of Placebo and Therapeutic Efficacy
The article in the popular press expanded the methodology reported in JAMA, and pulled in other opinions and work from some other related scientists. The study here gave people a fictitious pain medication that was really a sugar pill prior to administering a serious of increasing voltage electric shocks. Half the group was told they had an expensive $2.50 pill, the other half was told they had a 'discounted' pill (perhaps manufactured in China) for $0.10. Both groups reported feeling less pain after they took the pill, but many more in the group with the expensive pill reported a reduction in pain (roughly, 85% vs 61%). The expectation of greater value in a pricier pill is theorized as making the difference; a broader conclusion is that culture, advertisements, your doctor's attitude will play a role in the efficacy of your prescription.
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