This article in Wired on the renewed interest in researching the placebo effect is fascinating. Apparently more and more drugs have been booted out of Phase II research because they're losing to placebos - it's a worldwide phenomenon. So because it's unlikely that we're making worse drugs - it looks like people are actually responding better to placebos! So, big Pharma is looking into how it can harness the healing power of the placebo. It's very interesting.
The irony is that post-1997 when drug companies were allowed to engage in direct marketing (i.e. TV commercials for restless-leg syndrom .... "Hey, I didn't know I had RLS! I should go ask my doctor about getting that drug!") I'm sure many people have developed physical conditions based on psychological responses to advertising, and so now the new drugs Pharma developed aren't doing as well as the psychological response to the placebo treatment - a psychological ailment and psychological treatment.
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