The Legal Implications of the Administration of Placebo to Psychiatric Patients
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.19164/ijmhcl.v1i5.370Abstract
This paper concerns a practice that is sometimes encountered in the treatment of patients with mental illness: the use of placebo for purportedly therapeutic purposes. It will consider the lawfulness of that practice under domestic law, and suggest that previous attempts to perform such an analysis may be flawed. It will argue that existing statutory restrictions may apply to – and prohibit – therapeutic placebo administration, and will conclude with a brief analysis of the possible impact upon such administration of the Human Rights Act 1998.
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