Placebo management of psychogenic disease

In their article on placebo management of psychogenic disease, Lim and Seet (JRSM 2007;100:60-61) repeatedly state that administering placebos to patients ‘is a useful diagnostic test to distinguish between psychogenic and organic disease.’1 They do not provide a reference for this statement-presumably because there is no reliable original research to support this statement. In fact, this notion is based on a myth which has long hindered progress in understanding placebo-effects. It is time to abandon it!