21 patients with Meniere's disease participated in a double-blind, cross-over trial, with 6 months' lithium treatment and 6 months' placebo treatment. Even if the results were not completely unequivocal, no difference was found between lithium and placebo treatment. The results might imply that both other medical as well as surgical treatment of Meniere's disease exert a pure placebo effect; so far no controlled investigation has been published, establishing the value of surgical treatment of Meniere's disease.