“I recall reading about a study a few years ago where the BP used a substance in the placebo that would produce the same adverse events that they were expecting their drug to produce.”
Can you provide a link to this alleged study. The way you describe it that would by definition not be a placebo.
I suspect there is no such study by any Big Pharmaceutical company but would be happy to be corrected by actual evidence.
News 
Market Data 
Discover 
