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natsu's picture

Should patients get charged for a "placebo"?

Submitted by natsu on Sun, 03/30/2008 - 8:40pm.
Hello all,I wanted to comment on issue of whether it would be appropriate to charge somebody even a little bit of money for a placebo pill.  I personally think that yes, it is reasonable to ask somebody to pay money for a non-drug substance (which we are calling a "placebo" at least for now), if it is true that placebos work because of the situation that the patients are receiving it in.  That is, the common hypothesis is that placebos work for some people (but not all) because they see the lab coats of the physicians and receive encouraging messages which lead patients to completely believe that they will get better.  Not everybody can create this kind of situation.  So if the placebo really works, the patients are in a way paying for the physicians' treatment (i.e. how he prescribed the pill).  It is just like when some people pay so much money to carry a prada bag.  The bags aren't even mad of leather but people feel so much more special because of that little mark on their bag, which is why they pay so much money for the designer's name. Hello all,I wanted to comment on issue of whether it would be appropriate to charge somebody even a little bit of money for a placebo pill.  I personally think that yes, it is reasonable to ask somebody to pay money for a non-drug substance (which we are calling a "placebo" at least for now), if it is true that placebos work because of the situation that the patients are receiving it in.  That is, the common hypothesis is that placebos work for some people (but not all) because they see the lab coats of the physicians and receive encouraging messages which lead patients to completely believe that they will get better.  Not everybody can create this kind of situation.  So if the placebo really works, the patients are in a way paying for the physicians' treatment (i.e. how he prescribed the pill).  It is just like when some people pay so much money to carry a prada bag.  The bags aren't even mad of leather but people feel so much more special because of that little mark on their bag, which is why they pay so much money for the designer's name. 

 

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