i was watching this old program of ER long time back, and one of the docs mentioned in it that a patient was to be given an ‘obecalp’ (i.e., placebo in reverse). Is this normally done - administering a placebo to a patient because the doc believes that the patient is not actually suffering from any physical medical complication but it’s more of a psychological thing where the patient believes that if they are given a placebo, then their health would physically improve? They used the word obecalp instead of placebo because the patient was right infront of them.
Just got me thinking. Possibly, is there an ethical dimension to this… does this (or does not, perhaps?) compromise the trust between a doctor and a patient? If afterwards the patient learns that s/he was given a placebo when infact they thought that they were being given genuine medication all along, doesn’t that kinda impact upon the patient’s trust vis-a-vis their doctors?
Does anyone understand what i am trying to blab about here?
Well I think a Doc needs to do what he has to for theover all well being of the pateint... coz a disturbed psychological state could very well bring about physical harm (heart attack, stroke..etc)
Nescio, Why are you laughing at me? Aren’t you supposed to be studying medicine? They should teach aaj kal kai med ishtudents how to respond appropriately to legitimate, valid queries
i think nadz, docs know that some people "imagine" that they are sick and need medication to get better... instead its probably just a psychological thing..
like with my mum sometimes, whose a bit of a drama queen (like the rest of the khandan) throws tantrums when shes got a headache and demands panadol.. instead i force her to have chai or osmething else.. and sooner or later shes all better... but then she'll remmeber something and the cycle starts again...
seems pretty universal. in karachi baji always used to talk about giving people the Golden injection (code word for saline/water), and then people thanking them later on about it really helping.
i guess doctors alleviate suffering at many levels, psychological suffering one of them.
Gets dangerous tho. Once a pathan brought a group of his friends and bashed a doctor up for not giving injection to his son (even though the doctor was doing whatever was medically feasible for him). In the pathan’s estimation, injection would’ve saved him.
edit: sadzz, placebo means ainwayin dawaii that doesnt really have medicinal uses, only psychological ones.
Sadzzz and Ravage, Thanks you guys :flower1: :flower1:
Sadzzz, According to the dictionary’s definition, “placebo” is a substance containing no medication and prescribed or given to reinforce a patient’s expectation to get well.
So i guess it wouldn’t necessarily violate anything ethically (i.e., it doesn’t (always?) compromise the trust between a doctor and a patient because ultimately, the patient wants to get well. That is her/his ultimate goal…however the doctor goes about in achieving that ultimate end goal, is justifiable?
i'll give u an example :) i had to go to the hospital quite a bit for some injections.. and these injections were quite painful, but not THAT painful.. its the after affect that bothered me.. first 2-3 times i was like "just take it.. be brave".. but after that, id always be like "ouuuuuch it hurts it hurts" just so the nurse would give me medicine to calm me down (hehe.. cheeky me) sometimes... people over exagerate (like myself.. but ive learnt my lesson.. im a tough cookie now)
i think it really is a psychological thing... if u believe uve taken something thats going to make u better (even if it does nothing) u will indeed get better...
p.s my story was retarded... pls dont laff
p.s x 2, thanks guys for the explanation
man, some ppl i know could surely use some of those i mean there r some hypochondriacs out there who jus imagine they r sufferrring from all types of diseases whereas in actually they r not
waise i guess the doc is taking a huge responsibility by administering a placebo to someone…hmmmm…if i was a doc id prolly not administer placebo’s to anyone…unless they were my own family members
Daynay ya na daynay ka to humain nahi pata, Barray logon ki batain hain Barray log hi janain par placebo ki tarah ka aik or lafz hay ADT
ADT say humara taruf heart attack se chand haftay pehlay howa, 3 haftay her Tuesday hum iss Doctor ke pass jatay rahay. maghaz mari ke baad woh jnr. Doctor say kehtay Give him ADT. or muskora kar humain tasali daytay waisay to mashallah aap ki sehat bohut achi hay phir bhi aghar koi kami hay to ADT say pori ho jay gi barri narum or mehrban muskorahat… ab to ghalti se bhi kisi ko narmi se moskorata daikhain to paitt main bal parr jatay hain.
although not experienced it directly with pills, giving placebo or something similar is common practice.
You should keep in mind that every treatment in medicine can have potentially harmful effects. It’s the balance between these harms and the expected advantage that let you make the decision. If in contrast to the patient’s will, we think that a treatment’s harmful effect outweigh its advantages then i think it is justified to give a placebo
Why are you laughing at me? Aren’t you supposed to be studying medicine? They should teach aaj kal kai med ishtudents how to respond appropriately to legitimate, valid queries 
Just answer the question! 
