Thinking a drug is a knockoff generic can cause worse side effects

Drugs seem to cause worse side effects if people think they are cheap. This finding could encourage doctors to explain to people that treatments can be effective and safe regardless of whether they are trademarked brands or less expensive copies.

“Most people have heard of the placebo effect,” says Kate Faasse at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. “It’s this idea that you can take a sugar pill, think it will work, and it’s going to cause health improvement.”