The placebo-by-proxy effect – another argument against homeopathy

Chances are you know about the placebo effect. There are many variables to study,1 but in general, the placebo effect means that if you believe in a positive outcome of a drug, you will think the drug worked. It still won‘t act like a regular drug, but that might be fine if you just stubbed your toe and are looking for light pain relief. Ibuprofen would help you more with your pain, but a placebo will still let you feel the pain a little less simply because you believe in it.

But have you heard about the placebo-by-proxy effect? This is the more sinister, ugly relative to our regular placebo effect. As a veterinarian, I am in contact with it every single day. Now, some of you may be thinking, “well, I don’t own a pet anyway”. But perhaps you have children, so keep on reading to learn how placebo-by-proxy can affect all kinds of parents, including “pet-parents”