BMJ  2008;336:1339 (14 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.39603.698889.59

Observations

Yankee Doodling

Placebo pills for children

A deeply bad idea

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

And so another trend begins in America. This time it is placebo pills for kids.

On 1 June a company called Efficacy Brands (I’m not making this up) put cherry flavoured sugar tablets on sale on the web. The company was started by a mother with three young children, who has appeared on the morning television shows in the US to publicise her inspiration. For just under $6.00 you can order a bottle of these pills to "treat" children when real medicine isn’t appropriate and a hug and a kiss aren’t enough. The pill is called Obecalp—placebo spelt backwards. How clever is that?

I first became aware of the power of placebos 30 years ago when I was an intern in a large US urban hospital. Our pharmacy stocked two "special" painkilling drugs, available by a doctor’s prescription only. One came in a brilliant red capsule and the other was . . . [Full text of this article]

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