Placebos are basically sugar pills that are used to help test the effectiveness of new drugs. In order for a new drug to be FDA approved, it must surpass a placebo in it's effectiveness in at least two clinical trials. Unfortunately, for Big Pharma, we are seeing a trend of the placebo effect (healing through the use of fake drugs) becoming stronger and stronger.

And, it's not just new drugs that are effected! Older drugs that have been on the market for years are suddenly being surpassed by the strength of placebos as well.

For instance, a promising new drug labeled MK-869 failed miserably in 2002 due to the placebo effect.

True, many test subjects treated with the medication felt their hopelessness and anxiety lift. But so did nearly the same number who took a placebo, a look-alike pill made of milk sugar or another inert substance given to groups of volunteers in clinical trials to gauge how much more effective the real drug is by comparison. The fact that taking a faux drug can powerfully improve some people's health—the so-called placebo effect—has long been considered an embarrassment to the serious practice of pharmacology. Ultimately, Merck's foray into the antidepressant market failed. In subsequent tests, MK-869 turned out to be no more effective than a placebo...

...From 2001 to 2006, the percentage of new products cut from development after Phase II clinical trials, when drugs are first tested against placebo, rose by 20 percent. The failure rate in more extensive Phase III trials increased by 11 percent, mainly due to surprisingly poor showings against placebo. Despite historic levels of industry investment in R&D, the US Food and Drug Administration approved only 19 first-of-their-kind remedies in 2007—the fewest since 1983—and just 24 in 2008. Half of all drugs that fail in late-stage trials drop out of the pipeline due to their inability to beat sugar pills.

It's not that the old meds are getting weaker, drug developers say. It's as if the placebo effect is somehow getting stronger.

"The fact that an increasing number of medications are unable to beat sugar pills has thrown the industry into crisis."

Why are inert pills suddenly overwhelming promising new drugs and established medicines alike? The reasons are only just beginning to be understood. A network of independent researchers is doggedly uncovering the inner workings—and potential therapeutic applications—of the placebo effect. At the same time, drugmakers are realizing they need to fully understand the mechanisms behind it so they can design trials that differentiate more clearly between the beneficial effects of their products and the body's innate ability to heal itself. A special task force of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health is seeking to stem the crisis by quietly undertaking one of the most ambitious data-sharing efforts in the history of the drug industry. After decades in the jungles of fringe science, the placebo effect has become the elephant in the boardroom.

This is promising news for those of us who rely on natural cures and the healing qualities of the mind. Scientists are trying to harness this power and exploit it, to better understand the mechanisms for which it works. Of course, so they can make even better, more effective drugs, but lets hope there's new information for holistic practitioners as well.

Read full article here and msnbc on it here.