A further look at placebos

[Guest guest]

[hsibaltimore.com]

 

Dear Reader,

 

It's a joke. Or it WAS a joke.

In an e-Alert I sent you a few years ago, I told you that the FDA had

approved the sale of placebo, but only when prescribed by a doctor. An

FDA official noted that placebo had been successful in the treatment of

everything from lower-back pain to erectile dysfunction to nausea.

Meanwhile, a drug researcher pointed out that studies had linked placebo

to a hundred different side effects, from lower-back pain to erectile

dysfunction to nausea.

 

That report came from The Onion – a deadpan comic " news " weekly. Of

course it was just entertaining nonsense that happened to have a pretty

funny ring of truth for those of us who follow the zany antics of the

FDA.

 

But here's what's really funny: You can now actually purchase placebo

pills. And you don't need a prescription because, believe it or not,

they're actually marketed as a dietary supplement.

 

The only thing really wrong with this product is that it's designed for

kids, when it should be prescribed for drug researchers.

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Owies be gone

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" I invented Obecalp, " writes Jennifer Buettner on her web site:

inventedbyamother.com. Jennifer describes herself as a mommy, and adds,

" It's my job to make owies go away. "

 

So right from the start you know we're not exactly in Big Pharma

territory here.

Traditionally, mommies make owies go away with a kiss or some other form

of TLC. But one day when Jennifer was trying in vain to cope with a

hypochondriac niece, she asked her husband to pick up some placebo pills

at the drugstore. This must have amused his local druggist, and of

course Mr. Buettner returned home with no placebo.

 

That's when a light bulb blinked on over Jennifer's head.

 

Instead of simply giving her " ailing " niece a baby aspirin and telling

her it was a new miracle drug, Jennifer started thinking big and

developed Obecalp (spell it backwards) – a standardized,

pharmaceutical grade, chewable, cherry-flavored pill, sweetened with

just a bit of dextrose (sugar).

 

I'll give Jennifer high marks for using no artificial colors or

flavorings, but she loses me when she sidesteps an important question in

the FAQ section on her web site: " Does the use of Obecalp perpetuate

drug use in a 'pill to cure everything' society? "

 

Her answer: " No. Over-prescription and use of medications when not

needed perpetuate drug use in our society. "

No doubt, over-prescription is part of the problem. But if a child comes

to believe that a delicious pill relieves a variety of owies, he's more

likely to grow up trusting the drug commercials he sees on TV –

beautifully conditioned to be an ideal drug consumer.

 

Hilariously, the Obecalp label states: " Regular Strength. " So if one

doesn't work, well it's only regular strength – take another one!

 

And on goes the perpetuation of our 'pill to cure everything' society.

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Ask your researcher about Obecalp

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Longtime e-Alert readers know the dirty little secret about placebos

used in drug trials: They may not actually be inert.

In the e-Alert " Aiming to Please " (7/21/03), I told you about Beatrice

Golomb, M.D., Ph.D. – an assistant professor of medicine at the

University of California, San Diego – who has aggressively questioned

the research establishment's claim that placebos used in drug trials are

inactive substances.

 

In a letter published in the journal Nature, Dr. Golomb noted that FDA

officials provide no oversight of placebo ingredients. Dr. Golomb:

" Astonishingly, no systematic efforts are made to ensure the inertness

of placebos: there is nothing validating the placebo standard against

which other agents are measured. Further, the drug companies funding the

trials control the placebo ingredients. The identity of the placebo and

fillers used with the experimental drug are rarely stated in scientific

studies. "

 

You can see where I'm going with this.

I think the FDA should make Obecalp the standard placebo, to be used in

ALL placebo- controlled trials. That will make placebos reliably inert

– or at least close to it. It will also make Jennifer Buettner a

wealthy woman and she can forget about marketing Obecalp to parents who

don't mind turning their kids into perfect little drug customers.

 

Sources:

" Experts Question Placebo Pill for Children " Christie Aschwanden, New

York Times, 5/27/08, nytimes.com

" Paradox of Placebo Effect " Beatrice Golomb, M.D., Ph.D., Nature, Vol.

375, No. 6532, 6/15/95, nature.com