PLACEBOS AND HOMEOPATHY.

PLACEBOS AND HOMEOPATHY. In the article I posted on yesterday, Michael Skapinker raises the question of whether placebos should be prescribed by doctors. He points out that placebos are already widely prescribed, saying that “Homeopathic medicines are so heavily diluted that there is in effect nothing left by the time they are administered.” Yet 42% of general practitioners in the UK and 85% of family doctors in Belgium prescribe homeopathy. Skapinker proposes that these placebos are effective because homeopaths spend more time with their patients. (The average consultation with a family doctor in the UK takes less than ten minutes.) Perhaps one factor to explore in explaining the effect of placebos would be how much time the doctor spends with the patient.