WMA should not retreat on use of placebos

doi:10.1136/bmj.324.7331.240

From trainee to consultant, BMJ Group offers doctors around the world tailored information, special events, learning resources and recruitment services at every step along their career path.

... by doctors, for doctors, for patients
We are open for entries!

Online learning

BMJ Learning

High-quality CME / CPD for doctors and other healthcare professionals. BMJ Learning features hundreds of accredited, peer-reviewed learning modules in text, video, and audio formats. Find out more

Courses and Qualifications

BMJ Masterclasses

BMJ Masterclasses, led by experts, help clinicians to use the latest evidence and recent guidelines in practice and meet their CPD/CME requirements. Find out more

Exam Preparation

The leading provider of online exam preparation, helping over 167,000 healthcare professionals to pass their exams. Find out more

onExamination

Search all BMJ comment articles:

From

Limit by

Access to the full text of this article requires a subscription or payment. Please log in or subscribe below.

Martin Bland, professor of medical statistics (mbland@sghms.ac.uk)

St George's Hospital Medical School, London SW17 0RE

EDITOR—I do not think that patients should remain untreated when a proved effective treatment is available, and I was pleased by the new clause 29 in the revised Declaration of Helsinki. I am dismayed that the World Medical Association is retreating from this position.1

The association's first condition for the use of placebo in research trials to be ethically acceptable—“Where for compelling and scientifically sound methodological reasons its …