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Brain_Hawk t1_j7hw0ee wrote

Reply to comment by burtzev in Tilavonemab in early Alzheimer’s disease: results from a phase 2, randomized, double-blind study by burtzev

You don't have to dose placebo. You tell the participants there are either two or four conditions in a case like this. Most likely you've reveal the full design, that they will either receive a placebo or one of three doses of the drug. After that the participant and the researchers are blind as to what condition each participant is in. Until after the analysis is done.

You are not ethically allowed to lie to people and tell them they will receive medication when they might receive a placebo. They have to be aware that the possibility of placebo is there.

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burtzev OP t1_j7hxed2 wrote

I know. The part about lying was deliberately facetious. Unless you get the ethics committee really drunk before the meeting of course. The question in the comment was phrased such that I couldn't say if the author meant 3 different doses of placebo or if they had missed the part where all the doses were compared to placebo. So I covered both bases with a little sugar pill of humour.

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