There are several problems with double-blind testing that have become apparent in the last few years, and that call for a new standard testing procedure. Doubl

There are several problems with double-blind testing that have become apparent in the last few years, and that call for a new standard testing procedure. Double-blind rests, among others, on the assumption that a) placebo effects are independent of and additive with actual drug-effects, b) placebo effects are nulled when participants know they're being given a placebo. Although I'm currently without sources (hopefully I can rectify this soon) both a and b are actually false. Certain drugs have been found to interact with placebo, which decreases or enhances their effects, thus again conflating the medicative effects of the drugs being administered and the effects of actually taking a pill (or rather going through the process of administering medication). Second, placebo has become such a household term, that the original meaning as a "fake" effect, seems to have been lost. Logically this makes sense, because its the end result that matters (being cured), not the way in which the drug is effective (placebo or not). The average person being told they're receiving a placebo can actually increase the placebo effect, rather than nulling it. A second variable should be introduced in double-blind studies, to account for both factors I mentioned above. Variable 1 should be whether or not they're receiving the actual drug (1a) or a placebo drug (1b) (as double-blind currently tests for) and variable 2 should be whether participants are told that they're receiving the actual drug (2a), or a placebo drug (2b). Testing the effects of combination 1a/2b vs 1b/2a should test whether the drug actually interacts with a placebo effect. Providing a measure of validity for the 1a/2a vs 1b/2a test. EDIT: Fixed some spelling mistakes EDIT2: Found some sources: Guardian article on how placebo can be enhanced when participants know they're being given a placebo: http://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/dec/22/placebo-effect-patients-sham-drug http://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/dec/22/placebo-effec... Published paper that used the set-up I suggested to find caffeine-placebo interaction effects - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21092089 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21092089 EDIT3: This is the paper I remember reading on the subject - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24416197 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24416197