Placebos were recommended by nearly 45 percent doctors in Chicago, United States in clinical practice. A survey has unveiled the surprising data about prescription practices of doctors in Chicago. Only four percent of the doctors who used placebos informed their patients about it. More than 90 percent doctors believed that placebos have therapeutic effects.

Researchers at the University of Chicago said on Thursday the study raises ethical questions and suggests a need for greater recognition and understanding of placebo use.

The study conducted by Rachel Sherman and Dr. John Hickner has been published in Journal of General Internal Medicine. Dr. John Hickner is working as a family medicine professor at the University of Chicago. Rachel is a 4th year medical student at the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Medicine.

Rachel Sherman has also provided some facts which point out that the routine use of placebos is controversial.

The report named "Academic Physicians Use Placebos in Clinical Practice and Believe in the Mind-Body Connection" has been published in Volume 23, Number 1, January, 2008 of Journal of General Internal Medicine.