So in the promotion of unproven treatments, the placebo effect is usually not a point in the promoter's favor. Our moral equation still stands - generally against the promotion of meritless remedies. Now, it's possible that a person could apply the cost-benefit approach in her own life and rightly conclude that she should try an unproven remedy. She could calculate that any possible benefit, though very unlikely, is well worth the cost because no other treatment is possible or because she considers the cost inconsequential. Promoters, however, aren't privy to such personal information about those who try unproven remedies.
Promoters can only weigh the probable impact of their actions on other people.
If they do so honestly, they'll have to conclude that, generally, promoting unproven treatments does more harm than good. Lewis Vaughn is the Editor of Free Inquiry and The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine . You may download and read the documents. Without permission, you may not alter this information, repost it, or sell it. If you use a document, you are encouraged to make a donation to the Council for Secular Humanism .