There was a famous study where the patients were told they were receiving a "pill with no medicine in it." It still resulted in measurable improvement. The sh

There was a famous study where the patients were told they were receiving a "pill with no medicine in it." It still resulted in measurable improvement. The short version is that we do use it in some cases where there's a lack of other options. E.g. I can walk into the major pharmacy down the street and buy "earache medicine", which is (almost literally) just water. My insurance won't pay for something like acupuncture right now, but if I were undergoing cancer treatment, suddenly things like that would be partially covered in the name of "pain relief".