The placebo effect has long been seen as a kind of “fake news” of the medical world: intentionally deceptive medicine that happens somehow to have real results. But could placebos in fact be a sort of fake news patients tell themselves?
Recent research on the placebo effect shows that there can be a positive therapeutic result even when the patient is fully informed of the placebo’s inert content. The medical literature refers to such placebos as “open-label placebos.” Traditionally, objections to placebo use center on the apparent requirement of some degree of deception in their application, which violates requirements on respect for patient autonomy. But do open-label placebos involve some form of deception? The question this paper pursues is whether open-label placebos imply self-deception. If so, is this ethically problematic? The paper concludes by speculating about the implications of the relation between self-deception and autonomy for clinical medicine in general.
Free and open to the public. Sponsored by the Department of Philosophy and Religion.
