Pritzker News
Fourth-Year Student Research of Physicians' Use of Placebos Featured in U.S. News & World Report
Rachel Sherman, MS4
January 4, 2008 – Major news media organizations such as U.S. News & World Report and Reuters have been covering the research of fourth-year student Rachel Sherman. Her first-authored paper entitled “Academic Physicians Use Placebos in Clinical Practice and Believe in the Mind–Body Connection” recently appeared in the January 2008 issue of Journal of General Internal Medicine and concludes that doctors believe placebos can have a therapeutic effect.
Sherman, along with Dr. John Hickner, Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, investigated the frequency of doctors prescribing placebos, or “sugar pills,” to patients. They learned that of the 231 physicians who responded to the survey (half of those solicited), 45% had given a placebo to a patient in clinical practice. The implications of this discovery, as Sherman noted to Reuters, include ethical issues, such as what constitutes informed consent when prescribing a placebo to a patient.
Sherman began her research on the topic during the summer of 2005 through Pritzker's NIH-funded Summer Research Program. Of her experience, Sherman notes, "The Summer Research Program is an outstanding way to take advantage of the tremendous research opportunities the University of Chicago has to offer, ranging from the basic science to the clinical to the interdisciplinary. The program encouraged me to investigate new ideas and offers a curriculum to guide students step-by-step in the research process."
Since the article was published, the research been cited in news outlets as far away as India and the United Kingdom. More information on the research of Rachel Sherman and Dr. John Hickner can be found through the below links.
“Almost Half of Doctors Have Prescribed Placebos”
U.S. News & World Report, January 3, 2008
“Placebo Use Common, Doctors in Say in U.S. Survey”
Reuters, January 3, 2008
“WHAT'S IN THAT PILL? Many Chicago docs say they give out placebos”
Chicago Sun Times, January 4, 2008
“Many Doctors Use Placebos on Patients”
WebMD, January 3, 2008
