Book Review of Doctors, Patients, and Placebos

Abstract

Letters and Corrections1 July 1987Book Review of Doctors, Patients, and PlacebosWILLIAM BACHRACH, M.D.WILLIAM BACHRACH, M.D.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-107-1-124_2 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptTo the editor: Having read (and reviewed for another journal) Howard Spiro's Doctors, Patients, and Placebos, I find several aspects of Dr. Sidney Shindell's review of the same book (1) open to question.Dr. Shindell: "The author discusses what he considers the three elements that interact when placebos are used."The book (p. 10): "There are four parts to the placebo transaction."Dr. Shindell: "The major deficiency in the book, however, is the literature the author does not deal with in his discussion. The field of medical sociology seems to have escaped his attention, despite major contributions people from his...