The results of a randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial re-opened debate on whether it is ethical to conduct placebo-controlled studies because it puts those in the placebo group at the disadvantage of not being in the treatment arm. One could make the point that placebo is not really necessary because all that needs to be done is to see if patients get better than the rest of the patients who are not yet on treatment. However, this has not been the standard of practice in medical research. We do need to consider conducting clinical trials that are outcome studies, where we only look at whether or not the people in the clinical trial get better or not and whether or not the treatment is safe.
At the same time, the effect of placebo should be considered as well...does it matter if someone gets better from placebo or from a treatment that costs money, may not be safe, and may not work?
