As I understand it, the placebo effect is seen in controlled trials that use a placebo, where both the drug under study, and the placebo, produce effects. To ar

As I understand it, the placebo effect is seen in controlled trials that use a placebo, where both the drug under study, and the placebo, produce effects. To argue that a drug is effective, it has to be more effective than the placebo. A completely separate issue is whether placebos should be used clinically. It's hard to tell if the author is using either of those definitions.