Fri 30 May 2008
A spoonful of sugar may help the medicine go down, but is sugar ready to work as medicine on its own? The New York Times recently featured a mom who started
a company to market a new pill called Obecalp. It’s “placebo†spelled backwards. And maybe it’s just what the doctor would order.
She’s a mom with a story we know well. She was taking care of her niece, who was complaining of pain. Suspecting hypochondria, she just needed something that would seem to help ease the pain. And the idea struck her for a placebo pill for kids…cherry-flavored sugar pills that taste enough like medicine to let kids think they’re getting something to make them feel better. A bottle of 50 Obecalp tablets costs just under .
The good news is, they can ease kids’ minds, which is probably where most of the pain is. And they don’t have the side effects or concerns that come with standard over the counter medicines. (Your dentist may have a different set of concerns.) But would you use it? Have you ever tried just passing off candy to see if the placebo effect would work? Do you think we’re just setting up our kids to join the overmedicated ranks of adulthood? Let us know your thoughts.
–Daniel Halperin, Health Producer
When we were growing up my parents never had enough time nor money to spoil us. They were so busy just making ends meet that if we didn’t like what was on our plate for dinner there were no ‘other options’ (like “…don’t worry, I went to Costco I’ve got extra grilled chicken in the fridge…”), if we cried because we didn’t want to go to bed we got spanked. There was no negotiating with those two. But when it comes to their grandchildren, my parents completely indulge them….as it should be. Consider the photo to your right exhibit A. 
