ASCO recomendations more harmful than helpful

A group of doctors has decided to rewrite the Hippocratic Oath.

The ancient pledge charges physicians with applying “all measures that are required” to help the sick. The American Society of Clinical Oncology wants to add a caveat —”unless those measures are too expensive. Then let the patient die.”

The oncologists’ group has developed a “conceptual framework” that relies on cost-benefit analysis to determine the most “valuable” treatments for different patients.

Sounds innocent enough. But healthcare outcomes cannot be reduced to cost-benefit calculations. By focusing on the cost of a treatme...