Research Shows People Think More Expensive Meds Work Better

KYW Medical Reports Sponsored By Independence Blue Cross

By KYW Medical Editor Dr. Brian McDonough

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - It is an interesting phenomenon: people tend to think something is better just because it costs more.

People in marketing have known this for years. Well it seems that the same theory might be applied to the placebo effect. That's what doctors call the reaction when someone takes a sugar pill and feels even better, though there was no medicine involved in the process.

Researchers tested 82 volunteers. All got an electric shock when they were offered what they were told was a pain killer. Half were given a brochure describing the pill as a newly approved pain killer that cost $2.50 per dose and half were given a brochure describing it as marked down to ten-cents.

85% of the volunteers who thought they were getting the $2.50 pill said they felt less pain after taking it, compared to 61% who thought they were getting a discounted drug.

In reality, neither pill was designed to have an impact on pain.