Ethics CPD Supplement

The ethics of placebos

Donna Knapp van Bogaert, Gboyega A. Ogunbanjo
South African Family Practice | Vol 55, No 1 : January/February| a3739 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/20786204.2013.10874316 | © 2013 | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 31 January 2013 | Published: 28 February 2013

About the author(s)

Donna Knapp van Bogaert, Centre for Applied Ethics, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Gboyega A. Ogunbanjo, Department of Family Medicine and Primary Health Care, University of Limpopo, South Africa

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Abstract

The word “placebo”, first used during funeral ceremonies in the 14th century, is derived from old Latin and means “I shall please”. At the time, it was practice among Roman Catholics to hire professional mourners to wail vespers for the dead. Placebo Dominio regione vivorium translates from Psalm 116: 9 as “I shall please the Lord in the land of the living”. Professional mourners served as stand-ins for the family of the deceased. They “walked” before the holy being by acting in a manner which pleased Him. Over time and in many circles, the term came to connote a substitution for the actual.

Keywords

placebo; informed consent; patient autonomy; placebo effect

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