Placebo—The Unknown Variable in a Controlled Trial

22 Feb 2021

By Maryanne Demasi, PhD; Tom Jefferson, MD

Originally published in JAMA - Internal Medicine

The use of a placebo in controlled trials is essential for the reliable assessment of a therapeutic drug. Sometimes trialists use an active placebo that can mimic the possible harms of the experimental drug with no therapeutic effects on the condition being treated. For example, active placebos, such as atropine, may be used in trials of antidepressants, where the drugs under investigation can cause noticeable harms and the risk of bias owing to unblinding may be high......

Full Text  doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.8670