We already have witchdoctors for that. I don't need my medical professionals trying to deceive me.

It's one thing if they tell me that a cup of tea helps some people with migraines, and is another thing if they're selling me sugar pills

Well, to be honest - that's kind of a uniquely American problem. Lots of places in the world don't have free pharmacare but only in America is the cost going to be so incredibly significant that the profit motive is strong enough to encourage charlantry.

I'm speaking from a non-American perspective.

Apparent post is advocating deceit, not for a profit motive but for patient benefit. This is what I disagree with.

I'm not saying anything about the profit motive. I'm saying that doctor should not lie and trick patients.

I mean, this might have been the case when standards of medical practice were so bad that the homeopathic hospital was one of the safest places to be because whilst the medical care there was purely placebo, that was better than a doctor with unwashed hands attempting crude surgery.

But modern treatments are evaluated based on having demonstrable net positive effects above and beyond placebo.

The side effects are also influenced by the placebo effect. Maybe they'd be less problematic, but they'd still exist.