Correct me if I'm wrong, but while it is true that placebo is primarily used in clinical studies and is a
bit problematic from an ethical standpoint, that does not mean that it is not used in medical practice. In fact, if I may quote this article ->
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4211281/:
"In Germany, when asked about the placebo use, 208 general practitioners reported that they used a placebo at least once in their practice; 45% used placebos, such as saline injections and sugar pills, at least once per year and 76% of general practitioners used medical interventions that have pharmacological or physical activity but have no intrinsic effect on the patient's disease or symptoms. The rationale for the use of placebo was to elicit "a psychological effect, followed by the expectation of patients to receive a treatment" "
There are many examples in here, but I chose this one because it specifically mentions the use of pure placebos: saline injections and sugar pills.
Or this one ->
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0163278703026002002"The authors sent a questionnaire to 772 randomly selected Danish clinicians and asked them about their use of placebo interventions. Sixty-five percent responded. Among the general practitioners, 86% (95% confidence interval 81-91) reported to have used placebo interventions at least once, and 48% (41-55) to have used placebo interventions more than ten times, within the last year. Hospital-based doctors and private specialists reported to have used placebo interventions less frequently (p <.001). The most important reason for the use of placebo interventions was to avoid a confrontation with the patient. Typical placebos were antibiotics for viral infections. Approximately 30% (28-36) of the clinicians believed in an effect of placebo interventions on objective outcomes, and 46% (42-50) found clinical placebo interventions generally ethically acceptable."
Now, whether Pasquale is practicing good or bad medicine in this instance is a matter of debate, but unless I'm missing something here (I am a game developer and not a medical professional after all, and I don't mean that sarcastically) it doesn't seem absurd at all. On a side note, isn't homeopathy as a whole basically just... placebo?
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