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The general argument is true, of course.

"And, as a fascinating new paper points out, this knowledge can produce "pseudo-placebo effects" in RCTs. That is to say, the expectation of receiving the treatment can cause people to modify their behaviors in a way that produces a significant "average treatment effect" even if the actual intervention in not particularly effective."

It is barely even "pseudo". This falls into my area of specialty, where suggestions and expectations are 'how you actually get anything done'. The more implicit and indirect, nearly, the more likely the suggestion is to take effect. If one discounts the all important 'confidence' and 'expectation' angle.

In a clinical trial there is going to be very heavy implications, however towards confidence. They invested these resources to do the testing, so that implies confidence and expectations.