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. ----------- Owies be gone

----------- " 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.

----------- Ask your researcher about Obecalp

----------- 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