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meontheinternetxx t1_ittv8fi wrote

Reply to comment by boooooooooo_cowboys in Can someone explain the ethics of testing potentially life saving medication? by beatleboy07

How (if at all) would you make that (double) blind though? For "normal" double blind with placebo, this is as "easy" as making a placebo that resembles the real treatment. But with existing methods this sounds like it could often be obvious which one you're getting, no?

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Beginning_Swim_4820 t1_ituqh2q wrote

If the standard of care (SoC) and trial drug have different administration routes, then sometimes there can be two placebos involved to mimic either the SoC or the trial drug. E.g. Cohort A will receive SoC pill and a placebo injection, Cohort B will receive a placebo pill and trial drug injection.

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chemical_sunset t1_itutai3 wrote

Yes, exactly this. I have aggressive MS and have been looking into clinical trials, and this is how one of them was set up.

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SeattleBattles t1_itu0yw5 wrote

Many studies are not blind as that would simply be impossible, unethical, or both. But with most things like cancer you don't really have to worry about things like placebo effects as you have objective measures like tumor growth.

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