Pricier meds mean worse side effects, thanks to ‘nocebo’ effect

Researchers have found that we’re more likely to experience negative side effects when we take a drug we think is pricier—a flip side of the placebo effect known as the “nocebo” effect.
In the study, researchers asked 49 people to test out a purported anti-itch cream that, in reality, contained no active ingredient. Some got “Solestan® Creme,” a fake brand name in a sleek blue box designed to look like other expensive brands on the market. Others received “Imotadil-LeniPharma Creme”—another fake, this time housed in a box resembling those typically used for generic drugs. The test subjects really were experiencing more pain than the “cheap” cream group, the researchers report in Science.
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Click here for an abstract of the research.
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