What is a placebo in clinical trials?
In clinical trials, a placebo is an inactive substance or other intervention that looks the same and tastes the same as the active drug being tested. The person giving the placebo believes it to be the real drug, but it’s not. The person taking the placebo doesn’t know if they are getting the real drug or the placebo.
The use of placebos in clinical trials is controversial because some people argue that it’s unethical to give a patient a sugar pill when there might be an effective treatment available. However, others argue that it’s important to have a control group in clinical trials so that researchers can compare the results of the experimental treatment to a baseline that shows what would happen naturally without the treatment.
In medical procedure or device related clinical trials, sham treatments means the doctor goes through the motions without actually performing the treatment.
In fact, placebo and sham are different concept in the clinical trials.
