An Inside Look at Health Care for the Elderly and Medicare

My first and most memorable experience with placebos occurred when I was a medical resident at University of Virginia. We were on the hematology ward, and often we admitted patients who had chronic pain syndromes, typically very young people addicted to narcotic drugs. One night my senior resident, a very cynical man who ultimately eschewed a medical career for something less humane, had enough of pain seeking patients. We admitted a “frequent flier”: a patient who came i