Executivemom's Blog

As I  continue my rant against the pharmaceutical industry and their lack of concern for patients or drug safety (as they now question the safety of the HPV vaccine they so heavily pushed last year), I am amazed at how WE the consumers are to blame for some of this problem.  We look at our medical care, not as a "right" like police and fire protection but as a consumer product.  We WANT a drug to "fix" all of "life's" ills, we WANT to live forever.

 WE as consumers want something in a Pill to cure us…well, here is a "mommy" who is now marketing and selling placebo pills - as of June 1, 2008.  I think this is absolutely AWFUL!   We are just continuing to promote a concept that is unhealthy and unnatural and we're teaching our kids to be reliant on medications for whatever is wrong with them.  Until we change our attitude as a society, we will continue to be victims of the pharmaceutical industry because we allow it and perpetuate it.

Placebos pushed for parents

The latest trend in the US is placebo pills (read that as cherry flavored chewable tablets) marketed to parents for treating their children when real medicine isn't appropriate and a hug and a kiss are not enough.

Launched earlier this month under the brand name of Obecalp, the placebos are sold by a company 'Efficacy Brands' link started by a mother of three young children who has banded herself about the US media in a bid to publicize her 'inspiration'.

At just under $6.00 a pop, Obecalp (placebo spelt backwards for those of you who hadn't already guessed) contains no drugs and is claimed to be the first standardized placebo.

But some doctors are questioning the ethics of parents giving their children placebos. Writing in the BMJ this week (link), Dr Douglas Kamerow says it reinforces the "pill for every ill" message and may undermine a child's trust in their parents if they discover they are being treated with dummy pills.

"A placebo pill for children seems like a deeply bad idea, however well intentioned. Children don't need a sugar pill, and they certainly don't need to be deceived into thinking that it's the pill's magic, and not Mum's or Dad's, that helped them feel better," he says.

 I believe in the "placebo" effect and saw it in many studies (espcially those with patients & psych meds) but to give it to our kids because a hug & a kiss "just won't do"? 

I don't wish someone trying to be in business "ill will" - this just isn't the right idea or what we want promoted to children OR parents!  This is one idea I hope does not catch on….

what are your thoughts / feedback?