The powerful placebo.

@article{Beecher1955ThePP,
  title={The powerful placebo.},
  author={Henry Knowles Beecher},
  journal={Journal of the American Medical Association},
  year={1955},
  volume={159 17},
  pages={
          1602-6
        }
}
  • H. Beecher
  • Published 24 December 1955
  • Medicine
  • Journal of the American Medical Association
Placebos have doubtless been used for centuries by wise physicians as well as by quacks, but it is only recently that recognition of an enquiring kind has been given the clinical circumstance where the use of this tool is essential "... to distinguish pharmacological effects from the effects of suggestion, and... to obtain an unbiased assessment of the result of experiment." It is interesting that Pepper could say as recently as 10 years ago "apparently there has never been a paper published… 
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In the good old days, medicine was really medicine; it tasted disgusting and pills seemed to be the size of gobstoppers, and knowing exactly what one is taking-to the very milligramrobs the cure of much of its magic.
The placebo response: friend or foe?
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In the good old days, medicine was really medicine; it tasted disgusting and pills seemed to be the size of gobstoppers, and knowing exactly what one is taking-to the very milligramrobs the cure of much of its magic.
Placebo, a historical perspective
The thinking doctor’s guide to placebos
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A third way whereby clinicians can use the placebo knowingly yet still stay within the ethical constraints of modern medical practice is outlined.
The placebo dilemma
  • L. Schindel
  • Medicine
    European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
  • 2004
TLDR
Only a well-trained and experienced clinical observer should employ a placebo in establishing the therapeutic value of drugs whilst avoiding undesirable pitfalls.
Placebos: a review of the placebo response
  • W. Thompson
  • Psychology, Medicine
    American Journal of Gastroenterology
  • 2000
TLDR
Those engaged in treatment trials must recognize and manage the reality of placebos rather than attempt to eliminate or disparage them, and factors that might influence the placebo effect such as age, gender, and social circumstances need prospective study.
Placebos: a review of the placebo response
The placebo effect: is it unethical to use it or unethical not to?
  • D. Elliott
  • Medicine
    Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians
  • 2016
TLDR
Until the first half of the 20th century, the use of placebos such as bread or sugar pills and coloured water, was widespread, thought of as a ‘necessary deception’ and particularly used for ‘neurotic or inadequate patients’.
The placebo effect: powerful, powerless or redundant?
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The view and role of placebos have developed over time, with medicine now firmly entrenched in the age of evidence-based practice, there is a question as to whether it is time to leave the old placebo behind us.
Placebo effect and placebos: what are we talking about? Some conceptual and historical considerations
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The use of placebo as a methodological tool has assumed a leading role in the last 50 years and has become an important role in controlled clinical trials, the main element of the "evidence-based-medicine" paradigm.
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