Profili bioetici dell’utilizzo del placebo in medicina

Abstract

Placebo is defined as an inert substance or inactive treatment. It is usually used in clinical trials as a control and its effect is so significant that the “gold standard” of research design is the double-blind, placebo-controlled study. The question thus arises whether placebos should be used therapeutically. In the proposed case, the deceptive use of placebo on a teenager in USA allowed his mother to bring to court a doctor and three nurses for malpractice. This paper, from the bioethics point of view, discusses the clinical and ethical perspectives of the placebo use in clinical practice.