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placebo
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How Cardiologists’ High Hopes for Two Drugs Were Dashed
• Nov. 7, 2026, 9:50 AM ET (New York Times)
What is the placebo effect?Overview of the placebo effect.
See all videos for this articleplacebo, an inert, or dummy, drug. Placebos are sometimes prescribed for maladies with no known scientific treatment or in cases in which an ailment has not yet been diagnosed. They are also used in tests involving responses to new drugs. In a blind test the patient does not know whether he or she is given the real drug or a placebo. In a double blind test neither the patient nor the physician knows.
This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.
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