Discuss the following:
Play the role of the conventional doctor in one of your peers’ posts and the CAH provider in the second post. How would you answer the questions the patient has? Include references.Do you agree of disagree with the course of action your classmate chose?
Aside from seeking a second opinion, the patient will have many thoughts, questions and concerns to present to each provider. For eg, to the conventional practitioner, the patient may ask the following:
1. Are there any other methods of treatment that have higher success rates?
2. Is surgery an option?
3. Will the incorporation of CAH increase the odds of survival?
4. To the CAH practitioner, the patient may ask the following:
5. What are the side effects and risks of treatment?
6. What valid training do you have in regards to this therapy?
7. Has this therapy been successful, under your care, for others with my disease?
8. Can the treatment be used in conjunction with conventional methods?
9. What will it cost? (National Institute of Health, 2005, p. 7).
Based on the above practitioner assessments, the best course of action for the patient would be either the CAH therapy or the CAH therapy combined with the conventional method of treatment. This is because side effects are less invasive for the CAH therapy.
Additionally, a ten percent survival rate is not very promising at all. I would rather take my chances with the unknown survival rate of the CAH therapy than settle for a ten percent chance. At this rate, the patient has nothing to lose by being treated with CAH, as long as it is an affordable option. However, the CAH practitioner must follow specific guidelines given the nature of the therapy (i.e. experimental instead of evidence-based). These guidelines include informed patient consent, staying within their specific scope of practice, and maintaining all ethical implications for the treatment (Gilmour, Harrison, Cohen, & Vohra, 2011, p. 4).