A doctor wants to determine if a new medication for cholesterol is more effective than the previous medication. The doctor informs his patients of the new medication and asks if they want to participate in a study. Patients who are currently taking medication for cholesterol are randomly selected and given the new medication. After two months, the patients’ cholesterol levels are checked.

Which of the following would benefit this experiment the most?

A This experiment should also use the original medication to see if the patients’ cholesterol levels would improve because they believe they are receiving the new medication.

B This experiment should use blinding and a placebo, so patients do not know which treatment they are receiving and to control for the placebo effect.

C This experiment should be single blind, with some patients taking the new medication and some taking the original medication to determine the effects of the new medication. Only the subjects would not know which treatment they are receiving.

D This experiment should be double blind, with some patients taking the new medication and some taking a placebo to determine the effects of the new medication. Neither the subjects nor the technicians checking the cholesterol would know which treatment was given to which group.