Do No Harm: How a Magic Bullet for Prostate Cancer Became a Medical Quandary - Hardcover

Justman, Stewart

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1566636272 ISBN 13: 9781566636278

Publisher: Ivan R Dee, Inc, 2008

Synopsis

A fascinating medical detective story about the unusual reception for a promising new drug by a skeptical medical community reluctant to abandon its age-old Hippocratic Oath of "Do No Harm." Stewart Justman explains how a pill called finasteride, proven to dramatically reduce the incidence of prostate cancer, was found to be also associated with a distinctly higher rate of aggressive cancer. As urologists and oncologists were presented with a strange mix of eurekas and cautionary notes, physicians adhered to their best principles and remained wary of massive application. For now, the drug is deemed too risky: the medical dictum of avoiding harm has inhibited its use on a grand scale, though statistically there is much in its favor. Do No Harm is engrossing reading about medical science and, finally, a reassuring tale of the triumph of tradition over novelty.

About this title

About the Author

Stewart Justman won the PEN Award for the Art of the Essay for his book Seeds of Mortality, published by Ivan R. Dee in 2003. He lives in Missoula, Montana.

Edition details

• Publisher: Ivan R Dee, Inc
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1566636272
• ISBN 13: 9781566636278
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256