1. Introduction to the proceedings of an international conference Placebo: Its action and place in health research today Warsaw, Poland, 12–13 April, 2003

   • Andrzej Górski

   EditorialNotes Pages: 3 - 4

2. Ethics in research: Striving for common ground within the cultural diversity of Europe

   • Rainer Gerold

   OriginalPaper Pages: 5 - 8

3. Placebo: Its action and place in health research today

   • Randolph Smoak Jr.

   OriginalPaper Pages: 9 - 13

4. Placebo use in Council of Europe biomedical research instruments

   • Pēteris Zilgalvis

   OriginalPaper Pages: 15 - 22

5. The CIOMS view on the use of placebo in clinical trials

   • Juhana E. Idänpään-Heikkilä
   • Sev Fluss

   OriginalPaper Pages: 23 - 28

6. Using empirical data to inform the ethical evaluation of placebo controlled trials

   • Jeremy Sugarman

   OriginalPaper Pages: 29 - 35

7. The placebo effect in popular culture

   • Mary Faith Marshall

   OriginalPaper Pages: 37 - 42

8. The use of the placebo effect in clinical medicine — ethical blunder or ethical imperative?

   • Nikola Biller-Andorno

   OriginalPaper Pages: 43 - 50

9. The necessity and the value of placebo

   • Ernst A. Singer

   OriginalPaper Pages: 51 - 56

10. The concept of placebo

    • Zbigniew Szawarski

    OriginalPaper Pages: 57 - 64

11. Placebo and criminal law

    • Jan C. Joerden

    OriginalPaper Pages: 65 - 72

12. Clinical trials: active control vs placebo — What is ethical?

    • Jacek Spławiński
    • Jerzy Kuźniar

    OriginalPaper Pages: 73 - 79

13. Placebo and the helsinki declaration — What to do?

    • Bozidar Vrhovac

    OriginalPaper Pages: 81 - 93

14. Placebos and the UK medical research council — and the consumer perspective

    • Joan Box

    OriginalPaper Pages: 95 - 101

15. What does the public think of placebo use? The Canadian experience

    • Patricia Huston

    OriginalPaper Pages: 103 - 117

16. Applying evidence to support ethical decisions: Is the placebo really powerless?

    • Franz Porzsolt
    • Nicole Scholtz-Gorton
    • Ernst Pöppel

    OriginalPaper Pages: 119 - 132

17. Placebo in the investigation of psychotropic drugs, especially antidepressants

    • Stanisław Pużyński

    OriginalPaper Pages: 135 - 142

18. The biochemical bases of the placebo effect

    • Raúl de la Fuente-Fernández
    • A. Jon Stoessl

    OriginalPaper Pages: 143 - 150

19. Placebo treatment is effective differently in different diseases — but is it also harmless? A brief synopsis

    • Thomas R. Weihrauch

    OriginalPaper Pages: 151 - 155

20. Sham surgery: An ethical analysis

    • Franklin G. Miller

    OriginalPaper Pages: 157 - 166

21. Informed consent and the use of placebo in poland: Ethical and legal aspects

    • Piotr Zaborowski
    • Adam Górski

    OriginalPaper Pages: 167 - 178

22. Homeopathic remedies as placebo alternatives — verification on the example of treatment of menopause-related vegetative and emotional disturbances

    • Bohdan W. Wasilewski

    OriginalPaper Pages: 179 - 188

23. Placebo: Its action and place in health research today* — Summary and conclusions

    • Raymond E. Spier

    OriginalPaper Pages: 189 - 197

24. Meeting announcements

    Announcement Pages: 198 - 200