Yes, if the product was made by honest people in good faith, and if the patient gets to have truly informed consent. Who thinks any of that is true anymore, though? And what about the motivations of those recommending such therapies? I'm reminded of a situation when I was in medical school in the '80s when a surgery resident had implied to a young-middle-aged woman with cancer that he might be able to save her life, if she would let him do a procedure called a total exenteration ("Total exenteration refers to removal of the uterus, tubes, ovaries, parametrium, bladder, rectum or rectal segment, vagina, urethra, and a portion of the levator muscles"). The attending physicians (the teaching/clinical professors) challenged him publicly in conferences where such cases were discussed; it was clear that none of them thought it was ethical on his part, because they believed she would die soon anyway, but only after terrific pain and suffering from the surgery. (I don't know what her insurance/financial situation was, either.) However, they did not tell him, a licensed physician, though in training, that he could not do it. His attitude in these conferences was so offensive I almost spoke up myself - smug, self-satisfied, happy that he would be the only surgery resident to have 'total exenteration' on his list of procedures done during training. He disgusted me, as did the resident who laughed at me when he told me my elderly male patient with pneumonia had died on the ward, this resident having denied him entry into the ICU for no apparent reason. And that was 40 years ago. I think ethical standards in my former profession have fallen very far since then. Just because a so-called therapeutic alternative exists doesn't mean it's being offered (or denied) for ethical reasons.
Some of the memories I have from medical school make me cry. Not only were patients abused, but we students were forced to do things with inadequate support and supervision, so it was emotionally difficult as well. Much of the training was excellent, and there were great attendings and residents, but then there were these others.
Yes, if the product was made by honest people in good faith, and if the patient gets to have truly informed consent. Who thinks any of that is true anymore, though? And what about the motivations of those recommending such therapies? I'm reminded of a situation when I was in medical school in the '80s when a surgery resident had implied to a young-middle-aged woman with cancer that he might be able to save her life, if she would let him do a procedure called a total exenteration ("Total exenteration refers to removal of the uterus, tubes, ovaries, parametrium, bladder, rectum or rectal segment, vagina, urethra, and a portion of the levator muscles"). The attending physicians (the teaching/clinical professors) challenged him publicly in conferences where such cases were discussed; it was clear that none of them thought it was ethical on his part, because they believed she would die soon anyway, but only after terrific pain and suffering from the surgery. (I don't know what her insurance/financial situation was, either.) However, they did not tell him, a licensed physician, though in training, that he could not do it. His attitude in these conferences was so offensive I almost spoke up myself - smug, self-satisfied, happy that he would be the only surgery resident to have 'total exenteration' on his list of procedures done during training. He disgusted me, as did the resident who laughed at me when he told me my elderly male patient with pneumonia had died on the ward, this resident having denied him entry into the ICU for no apparent reason. And that was 40 years ago. I think ethical standards in my former profession have fallen very far since then. Just because a so-called therapeutic alternative exists doesn't mean it's being offered (or denied) for ethical reasons.
Wow, just wow. Things have sure gone downhill since then, too. The evil that exists in the medical profession (not all of it, obviously) makes me ill.
Some of the memories I have from medical school make me cry. Not only were patients abused, but we students were forced to do things with inadequate support and supervision, so it was emotionally difficult as well. Much of the training was excellent, and there were great attendings and residents, but then there were these others.