Drug companies are not exactly running new trials to make sure that their drugs are working this year as well as they were ten years ago. The failures of older drugs to beat placebo happen in trials in which an older drug, an experimental agent, and placebos are all pitted against one another. I doubt these failed trials will have any effect on patents.

Well, ceoyoyo, if you think major depression, the side effects of chemotherapy, and Parkinson's disease -- all cited in my article -- are just a matter of people "feeling bad" who should try "feeling better," I wish you great good luck in getting through the latter half of your life.

> turns out that the placebo effect is hugely influenced by beliefs.

Yes, it is. A section of my Wired article is devoted to that research, in fact.

Not "studies," ceoyoyo. Meta-analyses of hundreds of studies. That's evidence.

I'm the author of the Wired article, and I would encourage people to read the article itself before taking Peter's post on Science-Based Medicine as the final word on the subject. Peter's blog runs on two sites, and if you visit the other thread here -- http://scienceblogs.com/whitecoatunderground/2009/09/placebo_is_not_what_you_think.php -- you'll see that Peter's well-informed readers offered up many citations supporting my central thesis that he seemed unaware of, many of which were contained in my article. I know that words like "crappy" and "smackdown" feel really bracing to post or read on a blog, but they're no substitute for science-based medicine. Thanks for the link, ScuttleMonkey.

(Thanks for the link to my article, BWJones, which doesn't cover prosthetics, but does cover why more veterans will need them than in previous wars, and the pioneering approach of an Army doctor who is seeking smarter ways to ease soldiers' pain as they go through the evacuation process.)