Ceiling effect

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In pharmacology, the term ceiling effect refers to the property of increasing doses of a given medication to have progressively smaller incremental effect (an example of diminishing returns). Narcotics, such as nalbuphine, serve as a classic example of the ceiling effect; increasing the dose of a narcotic frequently leads to smaller and smaller gains in relief of pain. In many cases, the severity of side effects from a medication increases as the dose increases, long after its therapeutic ceiling has been reached.

In statistics, the term ceiling effect refers an effect whereby data cannot take on a value higher than some "ceiling."