Death by alternative medicine: Who's to blame?

This is truly a case of believing yourself to death. The sad thing is she leaves behind three young children.

The patient still steadfastly refused all surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Against all evidence that the course she had chosen thus far had not resulted in the elimination of her tumor that she expected, she nonetheless insisted on continuing with various alternative medicine treatments. Against all evidence to the contrary, she continued to refuse any form of "conventional medicine." She still believed that her "healer" could save her life, even though she now had a large, bleeding, stinking mass in her breast stuck to her chest wall that had three years ago been a pea-sized cancer that could have easily been excised with a small surgical procedure. She was well on her way to dying in the horrific way that so many women died of this disease 100 years ago.

If you look at the claims for most alternative therapies, they are very heavy on spiritual and supernatural types of assumptions regarding potent powers, forces, and intentions -- either on a personal level or Nature as a benevolent guide.

Trying to argue a True Believer out of Alt Med is like trying to argue against the existence of God to just about anyone. The tricks and denials built into the apologetics will not only help them disregard just about anything you say, but they'll feel virtuous and wise while doing it. The oncologist is up against it, hard, in a culture which puts "being scientific" slightly lower than "having faith" on the personal merit scale.