brokenscience

While placebos are meant to be benign, drug companies frequently use “active” placebos, meant to mimic the side effects of the real drug. The specifics of the placebos are rarely disclosed, and their effects may decrease the reliability of trial data.

The Wall Street Journal is catching on to the problems with peer review. Retractions continue to rise, with several high-profile pieces having been pulled in the last year.