The 'powerful placebo' is a seductive myth that Kathryn T. Hall's "Placebos" can't resist, even though her grand claims clearly misinterpret what the best available evidence says
In praising the power of the placebo effect, the statistical sleuths at the BBC's More or Less cited small, subjective studies that have failed to replicate
Patients on placebo inhalers reported that they felt better, even though their lung capacity was objectively the same - this isn't an argument for placebo asthma treatments, but for objective measurements in clinical studies
