PharmPK Discussion - Placebo in a clinical trial

• On 3 Jul 2007 at 14:50:08, "L. Chakradhar" (chakradhar_shetty.-a-.yahoo.co.in) sent the message
  

  
  Dear members,
  I came across a clinical trial (Phase I) in which placebo is
  incorporated with quinine sulphate with the rationale to give bitter
  taste as that of drug in a double-blind study. I feel placebo used
  should be inert and should not produce any pharmacological effect.
  But, quinine sulphate is not inert.
  
  Is this practice followed generally?. Are there any better options to
  make a placebo taste bitter with inert substances?.
  
  

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• On 5 Jul 2007 at 13:51:06, Andrew Sutton (asutton.at.gcpl.co.uk) sent the message
  

  
  The following message was posted to: PharmPK
  
  To L. Chakradhar
  In theory you have a point but in practice all the bitter substances
  that
  are authorised for human consumption will be either a medicine with
  its own
  effect, such as zopiclone which is a horribly bitter hypnotic, or
  they are a
  food additive with a distinctive taste that defeats to objective of a
  placebo in the first place (like angosturas).
  
  The miniscule dose of quinine  required to flavour a capsule or
  tablet is
  most unlikely to have any detectable pharmacological effect.
  
  Cheers
  Andrew Sutton
  
  

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