Patients who are told their medication can have certain side effects may report these symptoms more often than patients who aren’t aware their treatment carries these risks, a study of popular cholesterol pills suggests.Researchers focused on what they dubbed the “nocebo” effect, or the potential for people to complain of treatment-related side effects when they think they’re taking a specific drug but are actually given a placebo, or dummy pill, without any active ingredients.“It has been recognized for many years that when patients are warned about possible adverse reactions to a drug, they are much more likely to complain of these side effects than when they are unaware of the possibility that such side effects might occur,” said senior study author Dr.