I've not gotten my hands on the video yet, so it's a bit hard to see where CBO director Peter Orszag is going with some of his slides suggesting the need for more behavioral economics in health care. But they sure are suggestive. One of the main themes seems to be the need for the system to take the immense power of the placebo effect more seriously -- not as statistical noise, or a way to disprove the efficacy of other treatments, but as a method of treatment in itself. He has three slides to this effect:
Interesting. The implication of course is that it's far cheaper to give someone a chest incision than an angina, and far cheaper to give them a sugar pill than an anti-depressant. There are ethical issues, of course. But still. Interesting.
Interesting. The implication of course is that it's far cheaper to give someone a chest incision than an angina, and far cheaper to give them a sugar pill than an anti-depressant. There are ethical issues, of course. But still. Interesting. 
