A new survey says that about half of U.S. doctors “regularly give patients placebo treatments — usually drugs or vitamins that won’t really help their condition”:
That contradicts advice from the American Medical Association, which recommends doctors use treatments with the full knowledge of their patients….
Placebos as defined in the survey went beyond the typical sugar pill commonly used in medical studies. A placebo was any treatment that wouldn’t necessarily help the patient.
That’s ridiculous. It is true that when you go to the doctor, you are often at your worst — and when you are at your worst, you usually get better. So they perscribe whatever, and, hey, you begin to feel better.
And you paid $100 for the doctor visit and $20 for the medication.
I’m not sure how this should be regulated, but it needs to be.
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I wonder if this includes the improper prescription of antibiotics and advertised drugs, to satisfy the consumer (usually I detest the use of the word “consumer” in health care, but in this case the shoe fits).
What percentage of the U.S. populate go to church religiously every week? How many of them will only go to a church that consistently reinforces their beliefs (instead of challenging them with different ideas). The point is that people pay to go to the church they go to, and so they will literally pay to have someone tell them what they want to hear. It is therefore no surprise that doctors behave this way when the majority of their patients probably just want the doctor to do something – not just so they can feel better, but so they can hide from an inconvenient reality.
This is a culture problem. Our collective intelligence has taken a tragic beating because of our culture that supports credulous belief.
It baffles me that some people argue that it doesn’t matter what people believe and why. It obviously does. This culture of defending “faith” as a virtue has led to all kinds of side effects, of which, this is probably just another.
Think about this from a doctor’s perspective for half a minute. People come in feeling bad and expecting (I mean EXPECTING) the doctor to give them something that will make them feel better. If the doctor says, “You’ll be okay in a few days, go home and rest,” the person is likely to be upset.
Now, I am not saying the doctor should give a placebo. I think it’s a bad idea. But doctors are only human. Furthermore, they are humans who want to help other people as much as they can. As much as we like to think doctors make tons of money, well, they don’t. And when they do, they spend it on malpractice insurance and loans from their years and years of schooling. They aren’t any different from the rest of us except in the realm of education. The desire to help people can be just as fast food-ish as the desire to get better from some illness. Now, I am lucky, my doctor will just tell me that I’m fine and he won’t prescribe anything. Or, if I ask him about a proposed prescription he will tell me if he thinks it will help or not. However, I imagine he loses patients for that type of thing. Being outspoken is not always easy in the helping professions. There’s a lot of societal pressure to give people something that will make them feel better even if it isn’t the solution to the problem.
Take a step back before you judge.
@Ester: Oh, I understand the temptation — I can certainly see why they do it. My point is: that doesn’t make it right.
Well I’m in two minds as to whether it makes it right or wrong. With certain chronic but not sever conditions for which there is not a lot a doctor can do is it then right to describe placebo for those it will help?
Daniel: I guess you didn’t read my whole post there. I never said that made it right.
On the other hand, why is it so bad? You have stated it to be a harm, but given no reason as to why.
Also, the study could be flawed in the way it poses the question. We are not talking actual placebo (i.e. sugar pills). We are talking doctors do not think the drug will have an effect on the condition the person has. However, it is still medicine and maybe the doctor is wrong. “Any treatment that wouldn’t necessarily help the patient” is broad. Some conditions are incurable (e.g. asthma, IBS, the list is endless). Does this study take into account the fact that treatments for incurable conditions will probably only help short-term or will never make the patient completely better?
Aside from looking at the doctor’s perspective there are a host of questions one might ask about this study. You seem intent on denouncing something before you understand it. I thought you were a skeptic.
@Esther: I did read your post, but was specifically responding to “Take a step back before you judge” — like I hadn’t considered why they would do it before I condemned the practice.
The harm, IMO, is that doctors are lying. If they can’t give you anything, they should just say, “I know you were worried, but this is just a common bug. You’ll be a fine in a few days. If it doesn’t go away in a week, come to see me again.”
Plus, the person ends up purchasing and taking drugs that have no need for. While it may not harm them, it’s not what I call ethical, either.
You are right, though, that I didn’t study the study in detail. I could be making assumptions that are unfounded. Let me know if you find anything about the study that is counter to my assumptions.
Actually, what I meant in my original post — sometimes it helps if you take the next logical step — was simply that the problem is deeper than you make it sound. It’s not really about the doctors giving placebos. It’s about people expecting them. You can’t just regulate doctors on this. There’s no quick fix. Furthermore, if you have been keeping up on health care at all then you might have noticed doctors quitting, ER’s vanishing, and paperwork piling up. More regulation means more paperwork. Which would you rather have: a doctor filling out papers until all hours of the night then coming in to work tired and ornery the next day and making mistakes, or a doctor who can actually take the time to talk to patients and help them?
As for the study, you didn’t even link to the actual study. You linked to an article about it. I’m not going to do your research for you. It’s your blog. You claim to care about truth and facts. Seems to me you should be a little more zealous in seeking them out.