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What do you do when your child is sick? Hug him, kiss him, tell him it will go away? Give him a pill to make it better, maybe?

I’ve been thinking about this for a while and I still haven’t decided if this idea is good or harmful. The Obecalp Cherry Chewable Tablets look just like any other pills. The only difference: they’re only placebo. Obecalp are aimed at children who don’t need real medicine, but could use something more tangible than affection.

This seems like a reasonable claim; placebos have been proved to work. However, there is one big ethical dilemma: should we be teaching our children that pills are the solution to everything? If a young child gets a pill (even if it’s only dextrose), won’t he grow up with the notion that medicine is the cure for everything? In a society that already depends too much on drugs, this might be dangerous…

Then again, if the child is older and maybe he’s seen mummy and daddy take pills for headaches, then he might insist he gets a pill to get better sooner. And, in that case, medicine without an active substance is probably better than just giving him a regular aspirin.

How much under $29.99?
A lot: $5.95 on PlaceboStore.com.

Via BoingBoing

I saw this last night and I still can’t decide if I like the idea or not.

The Pill Splitter and Crusher is designed, of course, to split or crush pills. Now, I can’t remember the last time I had to split a pill, and even then I used my hands or a knife. On the other hand, if you have to take your pills several times a day, a knife is not always handy, and some pills are just to small to break by hand. In this case, I suppose it would come in pretty handy.

Either way, what I like about it is that it also has storage space. This way, you can just take the pills you’ll need for a day or two, without having to carry a bunch of bottles around with you.

How much under $29.99?
A lot: $5.99 on WhateverWorks.com.

Via Coolest Gadgets