Placebos are scientifically shown to be effective 40% of the time against pain and depression. However, I haven’t found any studies that specifically compare the beneficial effects of a “name brand” Placebo versus a generic sugar pill. I suspect that this is one case where the name brand drug would be more effective than the generic version, despite both having the same “active ingredient.” Yes, I will accept a research grant to prove the point.
Reportedly, patients have even become “addicted” to placebos: According to an Internet paper by Ben Z. Krentzman, M.D., one patient ingested 10,000 placebo units in one year; another had a compulsive desire to take placebo tablets, tended to increase the “dose,” couldn’t stop taking the “medicine” without psychiatric help, and suffered “abstinence syndrome” when deprived of it—classic characteristics of drug addiction.
Quotation from Kenneth E. Legins, Is Prescribing Placebos Ethical?, American Council on Science and Health
