Survey finds use of placebos

Press, 1 September 1982, Page 7

Survey finds use of placebos

PA Dunedin If a Dunedin survey is indicative of general practice. many doctors are prepared to use placebo treatments for “imaginary" illnesses. A lecturer in the Otago Medical School's department of psychological medicine. Mr R. J. Thomson, and a medical student. Mr W. J. Buchanan, surveyed 39 general practitioners in Dunedin to find out'if they would use placebo treatments and under what conditions. The results of their survey are included in the lates’t "New Zealand Medical Journal." About 85 per cent of doctors surveyed said they would consider putting a bandage or dressing on a painful area to relieve pain and anxiety, even though the action would have little known direct effect on the injury. However, nearly 50 per

cent said they would not use unnecessary ’ medication to maintain contact With a patient, even if the patient expected a prescription and threatened to go to another doctor. The authors said many doctors seem to think that “imaginary” pain is best cured by “imaginary" pills, and used it as a diagnostic tool to determine whether there really was a disease. Such a misconception was j potentially hazardous and indicative of a serious misunderstanding of the placebo response, the report said.