The Continuing Unethical Use of Placebo Controls

Unaccountably, in these times of raised ethical consciousness, treatments are still commonly used in medical research in in which their use is unethical. We refer not to the deceptive of placebo, but to studies in which patients are informed that they may a placebo and then give their consent. Even so, such studies are if patients are assigned a placebo instead of a therapy effective in their condition. Here we examine why this ethical breach persists and ways to reduce it.