Placebo vs. Placebo

Here is an article about placebo trials that acknowledges ritual may be the decisive factor in a lot of healing, and side effects too.

After 10 weeks, subjects taking sham pills said their pain decreased an average of 1.50 points on the 10-point scale. After 8 weeks, those receiving fake acupuncture reported a drop of 2.64 points. In other words, not receiving acupuncture reduces pain more than not taking drugs.