Posted by ed_uk2010 on February 16, 2015, at 17:26:59
In reply to Re: Trial design, posted by alexandra_k on February 16, 2015, at 16:34:21
I think I see what you mean.
Someone could do a large trial of common/established drug X in a plain white tablet against posh placebo Y in a branded box....
But I think there are two issues here:
1. Who would fund this and why?
2. We already have evidence of what makes placebos more effective eg. capsules instead of tablets, coloured instead of white, branded instead of unbranded etc. What would the study attempt to prove? Even if the response appeared similar, if we knew the drug was effective from previous trials, we would know that some pts will respond better to it than placebo. Others may have side effects and prefer the colourful placebo!So, it seems to me that people would have the best chance of recovery when they receive:
a) a medication (assuming one is necessary) which is optimal for their condition
and b) the product in a), appropriately presented.Part of the reason, probably the main reason, that people often say they to respond better to branded drugs than generics is because they have more confidence in them. Confidence does not only influence the psychological response to treatment, but also the probability that the medicine will be taken at all.
poster:ed_uk2010
thread:1076696
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20150129/msgs/1076770.html