A friend of mine is doing an internship at a hospital pharmacy. On a shelf in the back he found a full box marked…
“Placebo suppositories”.
:eek:
I can hardly believe this. Has any of you medical folks ever administered / considered administering those? Who came up with this?
They’re a legitimate investigational tool. If one is testing a medication delivered via suppository (and many medications can be delivered that way, from aminophylline to morphine) then one needs to make sure the effect is due to the medication being inserted rectally, not just having something shoved up one’s butt.
QtM, MD
In 2002 I was hospitalized with a couple of fractured vertebrae. It was painful and a few well meaning relatives came by and browbeat me into into insisting on more pain medication. The extra medicine they gave me was a suppository.
Do you suppose…?
No. Placebos would only be used in investigational studies, where the possibility of being given a placebo is discussed ahead of time.
But that’s not to say some irritated RN might not have requested the doc to order additional pain meds in suppository form for “that asshole in room 402”! 
Sorry for the hijack… but can I use this for my sig? (I got dibs! you know you want it but I asked first!)