ABSTRACT
The placebo response is a fascinating subject and goes to the heart of the mysterious relationships between mind, brain and body. The main purpose of this chapter is to explore the ethical dilemmas that can arise from pain and, in particular, the ethical aspects of deliberately exploiting it. All therapeutic agents and interventions, at least in the context of pain, depend in some measure for their potency on the placebo response and the effect of expectation. In practice, it is actually quite difficult not to use the placebo response, even unconsciously. Many alternative therapies seem particularly adept at exploiting and manipulating the placebo effect without conscious deception because they believe in their own remedies. Patients desperate for relief desperately want their treatment to work, and the doctor, if he has any humanity, is equally anxious to help.
