Ted Kaptchuk’s first randomized clinical drug
trial, All the patients had joined the study hoping to alleviate
severe arm pain: carpal tunnel, tendinitis, chronic pain in the
elbow, shoulder, and wrist.
In one
part of the study, half the subjects received pain-reducing pills;
the others were offered acupuncture treatments. The pills his team
had given patients were actually made of cornstarch; the
acupuncture needles were retractable shams that never pierced the
skin. The study was designed to compare two fakes.
In both
cases, people began to call in, saying they couldn't get out of
bed. The pills were making them sluggish, the needles caused
swelling and redness; some patients’ pain ballooned to nightmarish
levels. Almost a third of his 270 subjects complained of bad side
effects. The side effects were exactly what patients had been
warned their treatment might produce. Most of the other patients
reported real relief, and those who received acupuncture felt even
better than those on the anti-pain pill.