Well, sort of. The issue is more predictability. There is no question that placebo works, and in fact sometimes works even when you know it is a placebo. But is not a predictable effect. When you are using pharmaceuticals, of course, it’s not always predictable either, but it is more so. there are also ethical considerations when you are knowingly deceiving your patient. I have used herbal meds as “sort of” placebo drugs at times, with mixed results. For obvious reasons, psych meds and pain meds are particularly amenable to the placebo effect, since you are basically convincing the brain to do what you want it to do. I would not try placebo antibiotics, although there have been case reports of chemo drugs showing a strong placebo effect.
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