3 ms·

What do you think of those real but inaccessibly expensive remedies of the day that are mentioned? Also, what do you have any thoughts about regulation that st

What do you think of those real but inaccessibly expensive remedies of the day that are mentioned? Also, what do you have any thoughts about regulation that stops experimental treatment decisions from being made by those who are destined to die anyways?

oxide 7y ago
Personally, I'm for it. You're already doomed. It seems cruel to remove hope from the damned. Should we use the terminally ill like Guinea pigs, no. But there should be a path to waive liability and consent to experimental drug treatment in cases of terminal illness. That goes for "off label" uses of scheduled substances too. If I have cancer and am on my deathbed, dose me with LSD please.
codezero 7y ago
A concern I'd have for the experimental treatments is: what is the bar? Can I charge someone a ton of money, and pump them full of water? Who has visibility into the experimental procedures, and whether or not they are just gouging a dying person to transfer their wealth to a company instead of their family or friends.
- James_Henry 7y ago
  That is an important point. I would like to think that people would be careful enough in their search for treatment that this would never happen, but it will and does happen to some degree. A lot of the gouging we currently see happens through FDA-approved treatments that are given monopolies due to regulatory capture.
  - ThrowawayR2 7y ago
    > "I would like to think that people would be careful enough in their search for treatment that this would never happen" The laetrile hoax cure for cancer (https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.3322/canjclin.31.2.91 https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.3322/...) and similar incidents before before and since show that people who are dying become desperate and are easy prey for people selling snake oil.
    - James_Henry 7y ago
      Yes, for sure.

oxide 7y ago

Personally, I'm for it. You're already doomed. It seems cruel to remove hope from the damned. Should we use the terminally ill like Guinea pigs, no. But there should be a path to waive liability and consent to experimental drug treatment in cases of terminal illness. That goes for "off label" uses of scheduled substances too. If I have cancer and am on my deathbed, dose me with LSD please.

codezero 7y ago

A concern I'd have for the experimental treatments is: what is the bar? Can I charge someone a ton of money, and pump them full of water? Who has visibility into the experimental procedures, and whether or not they are just gouging a dying person to transfer their wealth to a company instead of their family or friends.

James_Henry 7y ago
That is an important point. I would like to think that people would be careful enough in their search for treatment that this would never happen, but it will and does happen to some degree. A lot of the gouging we currently see happens through FDA-approved treatments that are given monopolies due to regulatory capture.
- ThrowawayR2 7y ago
  > "I would like to think that people would be careful enough in their search for treatment that this would never happen" The laetrile hoax cure for cancer (https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.3322/canjclin.31.2.91 https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.3322/...) and similar incidents before before and since show that people who are dying become desperate and are easy prey for people selling snake oil.
  - James_Henry 7y ago
    Yes, for sure.