Evaluating unconventional therapies
CMAJ 1998;159:758-9
See also:
- Letter: Patient guide available
See response from: E. Kaegi, M. Schneider, J. MacPhail
The series "Unconventional therapies for cancer" (covering Essiac, CMAJ 1998;158[7]:897-902; green tea, CMAJ 1998;158[8]:1033-5; Iscador, CMAJ 1998;158[9]:1157-9; hydrazine sulfate, CMAJ 1998;158[10]:1327-30; vitamins A, C and E, CMAJ 1998;158[11]:1483-8; and 714-X, CMAJ 1998;158[12]:1621-4), by Dr. Elizabeth Kaegi, on behalf of the Task Force on Alternative Therapies of the Canadian Breast Cancer Research Initiative, is the most useful thing you have published in the 21 years I have received your journal. Every patient with cancer is afraid — of the disease but also of the treatment. Patients are very resourceful at finding "alternative" therapies, usually in articles in the popular press that describe the therapy, guarantee success and do not mention cost. Their hopes buoyed by the tone and content of such articles, these people come to the primary care provider and want to know everything about the miracle treatment that the physician has failed to recommend. When the physician gives an opinion of the treatment or, worse, expresses ignorance about the particular modality, the patient's trust in the physician can be seriously eroded. The patient goes away with the idea that either institutional medicine is so closed-minded as to no longer be credible or the best treatment is being witheld from them.
These articles squarely address the issue. A booklet for patients including these articles and summarizing other unconventional therapies would be useful.
James Lunney, MD
Albuquerque, NM
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