[econoclectic] EclectEcon: New, Over-the-Counter Placebo

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Posted by EclectEcon:
New, Over-the-Counter Placebo
http://econoclectic.powerblogs.com/posts/1214873874.shtml


   Whenever a physician or other health employee asks if I'm currently
   taking any medications, [1]I reply,

     Yes, I take about ten different placebos each morning... a multiple
     vitamin, vitamin C, Vitamin D, ... etc.

   Now I can take [2]a real placebo each morning [h/t to Brian Ferguson]:

     Over-the-Counter Placebo
     03 JUN 2008 â A new drug is arriving in the US that promises safe
     relief from everything from a wide range of childhood (and adult)
     conditions. It is called Obecalp â placebo backwards. [3]Obecalp
     fills a previously empty market niche: you cannot normally buy
     placebo medication at the pharmacy, but many parents wish to help
     their children for imagined ailments without giving them real drugs
     as placebo. The pills look and taste like actual medicine but just
     contain dextrose. Since there is no active ingredient and they do
     not treat any particular condition it can be marketed as a dietary
     supplement.

   Not everyone is thrilled, though, with this marketing concept. The
   article continues,

     Experts are somewhat divided over marketing placebo to minors. One
     issue is the deception involved, which has led the the AMA to come
     down negatively on placebo. But given that parents often believe
     (based on quite a lot of evidence) that placebo does work, that
     parents regularly lie to their children and that the alternative
     may be them instead giving ibuprofen or antibiotics rather than
     something guaranteed innocuous, the deception issue may be
     outweighed by concerns of overprescription. The real problem may be
     that parents are bad at acting as if it was a real medication. Yet
     studies have found that [4]even when patients know they are getting
     placebo they get better. [emphasis added]
     Another reason to avoid placebo pills is that they condition
     children to see pills as a relief, perhaps making them more
     vulnerable to future overmedication or quackery. Yet giving other
     kinds of placebos like herbal teas may have the same effect. What
     most crying kids really need is a "kiss it and make it better"
     concern from their parents. Yet today's kids may actually consider
     being given a pill a similar symbol of affection. Ms. Buettner, the
     creator of Obecalp, claims that "as a parent you'll know when
     Obecalp is necessary." Leaving the non-medical interventions in the
     hands of parents seems to be a better choice than asking the
     medical professions to deal with them.

   As the writer of that item later wondered, how long will it be until
   generic obecalp competes for shelf space with the branded product?
   My friend BenS suffers from what he terms "idiopathic pseudo
   hypochondriasis". Obecalp sounds like just the product for him.

References

   1. http://www.typepad.com/t/app/weblog/post?__mode=edit_entry&id=51869888&blog_id=1678106
   2. http://www.cnehealth.org/blog_archive/archive_sandberg_2007.htm#603
   3. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/27/health/27plac.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
   4. http://www.leecrandallparkmd.net/researchpages/placebo1.html