The Placebo Effect and the Pharmaceutical Industry

The placebo effect has long been recognised in medical practice and numerous definitions of the placebo effect and its cause have been proposed. While having a significant impact on study design, it can also be of such a magnitude that pivotal trials demonstrating the superiority of a drug over placebo are difficult to achieve. This review discusses the factors contributing to the placebo response and why it is such an important consideration for the pharmaceutical industry when designing drug studies. The ethical use of placebos will also be considered, with particular reference to the Declaration of Helsinki and the rights of an individual against the rights of a study population as a whole.