Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site ttidcc.UUCP Path: utzoo!decvax!genrad!panda!talcott!harvard!seismo!cmcl2!philabs!ttidca!ttidcc!hollombe From: hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath) Newsgroups: net.med,net.women Subject: Re: Breast Cancer Treatment. Message-ID: <560@ttidcc.UUCP> Date: Tue, 16-Jul-85 18:36:25 EDT Article-I.D.: ttidcc.560 Posted: Tue Jul 16 18:36:25 1985 Date-Received: Wed, 17-Jul-85 13:01:57 EDT References: <1765@aecom.UUCP> <1271@mnetor.UUCP> Reply-To: hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath) Distribution: na Organization: The Cat Factory Lines: 32 In article <1271@mnetor.UUCP> sophie@mnetor.UUCP (Sophie Quigley) writes: >> ... Women were randomly assigned to >> total masectomy, segmental masectomy alone, or segmental >> masectomy followed by breast irradiation. > >*randomly* assigned (!?!) outch!!! Did the patients know that their >treatment was decided *randomly* ? Whatever happened to the hypocratic >oath? couldn't they do this on monkeys or something? I don't know >what other people think, but this sounds like wonderful grounds for >malpractise suits. This is standard experimental procedure. Assuming it was done by a reputable institution, the women involved would have known they were part of an experiment and probably signed a consent form stating they understood the nature of the situation. Note that _all_ of the treatments involved have been used in the past to treat breast cancer. The purpose of the experiment was to determine if any one of them was more effective than the others. Without the results of this experiment it's likely that total mastectomy would have continued as the treatment of choice for breast cancer. Given the results, the women in the total mastectomy group of the experiment may be among the last to undergo such treatment. I see nothing to worry Hippocrates here, or to justify a malpractice suit. -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe) Citicorp TTI Common Sense is what tells you that a ten 3100 Ocean Park Blvd. pound weight falls ten times as fast as a Santa Monica, CA 90405 one pound weight. (213) 450-9111, ext. 2483 {philabs,randvax,trwrb,vortex}!ttidca!ttidcc!hollombe