Placebos are widely used in medical trials to measure the effectiveness of new treatments. While they are useful for scientific research, they raise ethical concerns when they involve withholding treatment from patients who need it. By contrasting the utilitarian justification for placebo with the virtue ethics argument, we will explore the ethical dilemma of placebo use in medical practices. While placebos are sometimes necessary for scientific research purposes, their use should be restricted only to cases where no existing effective treatment is available, which respects the virtue ethics…