Den här översättningen är inte klar ännu. Den här sidan är just nu på engelska.

Gå till den engelska sidan

Cure My Disease

Don't miss your cure!

 Log in / Sign up

Honest placebos: a new way to fight the opioid crisis?

NCT ID NCT06350786

Symptom relief Sponsor: Cosima Locher Source: ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

What the study statuses mean

This study's is highlighted.

Recruitment status, easiest to join first

Recruiting now This study
This trial is taking on new participants right now.
Not yet recruiting
Registered, but not yet taking participants.
By invitation only
Not open to general applications. Only people the study team invites can take part.
Paused
Paused for now. It may or may not start again.
Ongoing
Running, but no longer taking on new participants.
Completed
The trial has finished. Results may not be published yet.
Stopped early
Stopped early, before it reached the end. That can be for many reasons, including safety.
Cancelled
Cancelled before anyone took part.

Expanded access (not trials)

Expanded access
Not a trial. This treatment can be requested outside a study, case by case, for people who qualify.
Expanded access (paused)
Not a trial. The treatment can normally be requested outside a study, but is unavailable right now.
Expanded access (ended)
Not a trial. The treatment could once be requested outside a study, but no longer can.
Approved
The treatment has been approved, so it is available normally rather than through this programme.

When the status isn't known

Details not published
The full record has not been published yet, so there is little to show here.
Status unknown
This status has not been confirmed recently, so it may be out of date.

First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026

Summary

This study tests whether giving people with chronic pain a placebo pill—told openly that it's a placebo—can help them safely reduce their opioid painkiller use. 86 participants will either receive the placebo alongside a mind-body program or just electronic monitoring for 6 weeks. The goal is to lower daily opioid doses and ease withdrawal symptoms.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance
open-label placebo pills
What this could lead to
If it works, this could offer a safe, non-drug way to help people cut down on opioid painkillers without increasing pain or withdrawal.
What could go wrong
This is a small early-stage trial with only 86 people. The placebo effect is unpredictable, and results may not apply to everyone. There is also a risk that pain or withdrawal symptoms could worsen.

This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.

Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Phase

Not a phased trial

Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.

Participants

About 86 people

The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.

Started

Jun 2024

Expected to finish

Sep 2026

An estimate. End dates often move.

Lead sponsor

Other sponsor

The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.

Who can take part

This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.

Ages

18 years and older

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Not accepted

This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * Signed Informed Consent * ≥ 18 years of age * German speaking * Pain lasting ≥ 4 weeks, including subacute pain (4-12 weeks) and chronic pain (\>12 weeks) * Opioid medication for pain management for ≥ 4 weeks * Oral intake of opioid medication * Motivation for opioid reduction * Participants have a primary treating physician who performs the reduction of the opioid medication * Having access to a computer or tablet with an email-account Exclusion Criteria: * Having psychotic symptoms * Suicidality * Cognitive impairment to everyday life * Planned surgery within the next two months that is expected to affect opioid intake * Known illegal drug or harmful alcohol consumption * Intolerance of the ingredients of the placebo pill (e.g., lactose, sucrose, corn-starch) * Serious health problems that make study participation impossible * Simultaneous participation in other studies with investigational drugs or pain specific interventions

Get updates

Get notified about this study

Sign up to get updates when this study changes or when new studies for Chronic pain are added.

Vår säkerhetsrekommendation!

Genom att skicka in godkänner du våra Användarvillkor

Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

Chronic Pain chronic pain syndrome

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

Chronic pain Subacute pain

How to take part

Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.

  1. The places running it

    1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.

  2. The official record

    ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.

    Open the record ↗

  3. A doctor treating you

    A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.

Contacts and locations

Locations

  • University Hospital Zurich, Department of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine

    RECRUITING

    Zurich, Canton of Zurich, 8006, Switzerland

More trials for these conditions

Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.