This 'Placebo' Could Be The Drug For You
We present a faux commercial for "Placebo" — a drug that does nothing and makes no claims at all. This is in reaction to a story that placebos can be effective in medical treatments — even if the patients taking them know that they're not actual medications. The news comes from researchers at Harvard Medical School's Osher Research Center and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
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AUDIE CORNISH, Host:
Unidentified Man #1: Do you suffer from erectile dysfunction or high blood pressure or poison ivy, rickets, itchy scalp, attention deficit disorder? Get the one drug that doctors recommend most for everything - placebo. It's painless, delicious and inert. Ask your doctor if placebo is right for you. If he says no, find another doctor.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
P: Placebo may result in the absence of side effects. Preexisting conditions may result from underuse. Pregnant women may have babies. Persons over 105, consider yourselves lucky. Placebo - for everything.
CORNISH: That medical satire brought to you by the staff of ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.
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