The Ethics of Using Alternative Therapies in HIV/AIDS

Abstract

The use of alternative treatment modalities by persons with HIV/AIDS poses many ethical problems. Because the medical community and the AIDS community have differing opinions about alternative therapies, patients and physicians can have difficulty deciding exactly how they ought to deal with alternative treatments. On one hand, many doctors feel that all alternative treatments are either examples of the placebo effect or that they are fraudulent. On the other hand, there are patients who feel that no alternative treatments are beyond reason, and that most of these therapies are better than traditional medical therapies. Because of such widely differing opinions, the therapeutic alliance between physician and patient can be greatly strained. This strain has its roots in the power struggle between physicians and patients.