Am J Psychiatry 1982; 139:1487-1489
Copyright © 1982 by American Psychiatric Association
The double-blind in danger: untoward consequences of informed consent
KD Brownell and AJ Stunkard
Patients and physicians correctly identified medication assignments in 70%
of the cases in a double-blind trial of an appetite suppressant. The breach
of the double-blind design may have had therapeutic consequences; correct
identification was associated with favorable outcome. These findings
suggest that requirements for describing the side effects of medications to
patients before they give informed consent may help them guess which
medication they receive and thus may influence the integrity of
double-blind studies and the results of controLled trials.
