Placebos in clinical trials of psychotropic medication

This paper represents the position of the Canadian Psychiatric Association on the ethical and scientific issues related to the use of placebos in the evaluation of new psychotropic drugs. The position taken by the Association is that new psychotropic medications must be shown to be effective and must be weighed against the best current interventions. Placebo controls may be appropriate under certain circumstances, even when an established intervention is effective. These include situations in which placebo response rates are high, variable, or close to response rates for effective therapies. Placebo controls are also appropriate when established interventions carry a high risk of side effects or are effective against only certain symptoms of the disorder.