Do you trust doctors? Is it sometimes necessary to lie to a patient in order to help them more effectively? Or for researchers to lie to gain important information about human health and psychology? This is not the only article I have read which indicates that placebos are somewhat effective even if the patient is aware that they are taking a placebo. Why do you think this is the case?
This is a comment by Edo:
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion placebos can be a good thing but as is mentioned in this particular article this idea can be misused and turned into something negative. A placebo in my view can be something like an innocent lie, or it can be also a very real and cruel lie. I know something about placebos from personal experience since my mother is a doctor. My mother participates in multiple studies while working with different firms and she involves her patients in these studies. From what I heard from her in these studies all patients are given the information that there is a possibility of them receiving a placebo, and to be part of the studies they must agree to these conditions. Therefore, none of them can say that they were not acknowledged with these facts. I would say that these kinds of experiments/studies are therefore acceptable when comparing them to the extreme examples given in the article where multiple people were straight up lied to and deceived.
My response to the questions that you gave to this article is very simple. I would say that I do trust doctors mainly because of the fact that they have some sort of education and if they have a good reputation, it increases their credibility in my opinion. On the other hand, I do also think that doctors have to lie at least a little bit to certain patients and in certain circumstances. Circumstances such as given in the article to protect a minor from a potential opioid addiction seems like a good and genuine reason. I also think that the placebos have an effect even if they know about it mainly because some patients might have been seeking help for a long time and nothing helps. I think that they might in this case convince their own brain that something finally is helping even if it truly is not.
In conclusion I find this article very interesting as it shows both sides of placebo stories, and tells us what to be careful about.
Edo, I agree with the points you made. I think it's vastly interesting that you have first-hand experience with such a thing and overall I think this "controversy" is a very fascinating topic. I think feeding little lies to patients is justified under the right circumstances, and an example I thought of was if a patient with a serious condition is feeling incredibly down, and if they sort of came to terms with their condition, they may not even care to get better, since they already accepted their fate. However, if a doctor, a person they trust and a person that can influence their whole experience, tells them they've made major progress and are on the way to recovery, they may feel more motivated to take that extra step to recover faster. Another reason as to why I think the placebo effect is used and is sometimes effective, is because one's mentality can heavily influence events and their outcomes. At least that is what I think, not all people may believe this, but I do. Maybe it would be ideal to have someone from the patient's circle know the real truth, however that's debatable, I'm not even sure myself where I stand with that. If someone from that circle passed on the information further and it got to the patient somehow, it could have serious repercussions and have a very negative impact on them. If I try to put myself in this situations, I'm at a crossroads to decide which option I'd want. However, ultimately, I think if I had a serious condition where my days were numbered, I'd like to think that I'm recovering, so that I spend those final days happily with a positive and faithful mindset. Overall, I think this is a very complicated topic and I'd certainly like to hear other people's input, so that I can gain multiple perspectives on this and perhaps form a new opinion.
DeleteI find placebos very mysterious. Whenever I read about an experiment involving them, I cannot help but question all we have learned in biology lessons. They are also much loved by specialists because there is still a lot to discover and understand. Recently, I read about a study conducted by the late Yujiro Ikemi that tried to analyze the mind-health connection in allergies. The conclusion was stunning. According to the results, all allergies are partly a product of the mind and can be controlled by it. He conducted experiments that led him to believe that the link between the brain and our health is far greater than has been thought. That’s the same concept as with the standard placebos. By tricking the brain into thinking that a cure is being given to us we can stimulate the healing process without risking any side effects from the medications.
ReplyDeleteHowever, this doesn’t explain how honest placebos work. My opinion is, that it is enough for the brain to think that some care is provided by a more appropriate authority to help recover. I find this approach better than classic placebos since it doesn’t require doctors to tell lies or withhold information. This, in turn, eliminates the moral and ethical dilemmas that this article raises.
Take the example of the 14-year-old boy. I support the doctor's actions and find them reasonable, yet, we can see that his approach might not be to everyone's liking. That leads me to the belief that the doctor’s job should be only to thoroughly explain the current condition and present possible solutions. The final decision of whether to undergo any kind of procedure, however, should always be on the patient.
Finally, I would like to say that I find it horrible that all of the unpleasant experiments were done on minorities. If experiments like these were done on white Americans the doctors would have faced trial right away. It is inconceivable that some people might have thought it acceptable just because the subjects were African or Mexican Americans.
-Oliver K.
I have always found the placebo effect very intriguing. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that there is such a thing as an honest placebo, and that it seems to work, as I completely agree that withholding information from a patient is immoral. However, this left me thinking, to what extent can an uneducated patient make important decisions about their health? While I think patient’s autonomy is incredibly important, I could imagine some scenarious, where discussing all the possible details with the patient might be harmful.
DeleteFor example, in complex medical situations, where the sheer multitude of details and variables can overwhelm a patient, potentially leading to unfavorable outcomes. Patients might not have the necessary knowledge or expertise to deal with all the information, which could cause them to feel overly confident in the manner and make them ignorant towards professionals. In such cases, it could be better for healthcare professionals to provide guidance and, based on their experience, possibly hide some details that could confuse the patient and worsen their judgment.
-Elias
Elias, while I agree that discussing possible details with patients may be harmful to them and potential negative side effects may greatly influence the patients decision, I think that it is still very important to discuss them with the person they affect. In my opinion, a patient should have a complete overview of how things as treatments and medication may affect them, both positively and negatively. A doctor should not be making decisions regarding the patient that the patient is not aware of. The only exception I can think of are life threatening situations where the patent does not have a say in the matter because they are physical unable to do so. Other than this type of situation, the patient should be the one to make the choice since it regards their body and life. For example, cancer patients, who choose whether to go through treatment or not. I do not think that information should be hidden from them due to the fact that they would change their mind on whether they want to be treated or not. I think that this scenario is depicted well in the tv show breaking bad, where the main character is diagnosed with lung cancer and does not want to go through the treatment at first due to its countless side effects. Although it is scripted and not real life, I think it still points out the importance of educating patients about their choices and making sure that they know that the final decision is up to them, even if the outcome they choose will be unfavourable for them, which brings me to my second point. In my opinion, doctors should not get to act like a "god" and get to influence the choice about whether the patient should live or die (in extreme situations).I do not think that people have the right to decide whether someone in such a situation should live or die, it is a personal matter and does not regards them in any way. I do understand that in theory, letting their patient choose an outcome that could potentially lead to their death could make the doctor feel guilt and lose some sort of medical reputation, but I feel like those are things that come along with the profession and always will.
Delete- Nina