Should Doctors Use Placebos?

Using placebos on patients is often considered wrong. Critics call them "shams" and claim that they're deceptive. In this video, I dive into the ethics of placebos and show how they are sometimes ethical.
0:00 Placebos
1:51 Placebos work (sort of)
2:11 Nocebos
3:31 Other treatments might be better
4:40 When placebos are ethical
5:36 Deception
6:45 Open-label placebos
7:18 Doctors use placebos all the time

[@mrjakeisnumber2]

I have to disagree with your point about it being okay to give a patient a placebo by not specifically naming it, saying something more generic like "Some patients find this beneficial." Even if you're not saying something untrue, it's still misleading.
As a patient, if I found out my doctor did this to me, I would feel lied to. Even if the results were beneficial, I would still feel upset that I was effectively tricked into taking fake medicine, and would file a complaint against the doctor and hospital. Although my case may be different since I explicitly don't want placebos

[@ValueJudgments]

This is definitely a key part of the debate. I say that not using the word 'placebo' *might* be okay and that it depends on one's interpretation of informed consent. As I discuss, the way to address this is to use an open-label placebo. This is a good way of making sure you don't get a placebo you don't want. Thanks for watching!