Prescription placebo

From yesterday's HSI: (see http://www.hsibaltimore.com/ealert/placebo.html )

Now this is funny... but you would have thought they'd come up with a better name than "Sucrosa". I mean, you'd be a bit suspicious, wouldn't you?

FDA Approves Sale of Prescription Placebo

WASHINGTON, DC- 9/17/03 - After more than four decades of
testing in tandem with other drugs, placebo gained approval
for prescription use from the Food and Drug Administration
Monday.

"For years, scientists have been aware of the effectiveness
of placebo in treating a surprisingly wide range of
conditions," said Dr. Jonathan Bergen of the FDA's Center for
Drug Evaluation and Research. "It was time to provide doctors
with this often highly effective option."

In its most common form, placebo is a white, crystalline
substance of a sandy consistency, obtained from the
evaporated juice of the Saccharum officinarum plant. The FDA
has approved placebo in doses ranging from 1 to 40,000
milligrams.

The long-awaited approval will allow pharmaceutical companies
to market placebo in pill and liquid form. Eleven major drug
companies have developed placebo tablets, the first of which,
AstraZeneca's Sucrosa, hits shelves Sept. 24.

"We couldn't be more thrilled to finally get this wonder drug
out of the labs and into consumers' medicine cabinets," said
Tami Erickson, a spokeswoman for AstraZeneca. "Studies show
placebo to be effective in the treatment of many ailments and
disorders, ranging from lower-back pain to erectile
dysfunction to nausea."