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Ask Dr. Scott: Might the ‘nocebo effect’ undermine Covid vaccine? Ask Dr. Scott: Dr. Scott T. Anderson Most of us are familiar with the placebo effect. A pill containing no pharmaceutical agent, often used in a control group when testing a new drug, can lead to subjective improvement in well-being among people taking said product. A similar effect is gaining currency in the medical literature: the “nocebo effect.” In this case, anticipation of side effects leads to adverse subjective feelings in a person taking a medication or even a placebo. Nocebo effects were recently studied with respect to cholesterol-lowering agents, as summarized in Medical News & Perspectives by Anita Slomski. The public perception is that so-called “statin” drugs may cause debilitating muscle pains. A comparative trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, demonstrated that 90% of these adverse effects were due to the nocebo effect. ....