I felt such a connection to Ken Chiate after reading the beautifully written story of his determination to treat his wife's Alzheimer's disease.
My husband has dementia, or as I call it, "Mr. Hyde."
I tried a different approach than the unorthodox treatment of Enbrel injections that Chiate's wife underwent. In the last few years I kept my husband busy, hoping it would slow Mr. Hyde from taking over. We rode our bikes, took college courses and enrolled in fitness and swim classes. But since November, Mr. Hyde has been living with me permanently.
My husband and I have been married for 47 years; like Chiate, I would do anything to slow the disease or give my husband the life he once had. Chiate and I share a road that no one wants to be on, a road that hopefully, with a cure, will one day be closed for good.
Mary McCoy
Encino
The front-page article about Chiate's determination to halt his wife's dementia presents a rather balanced view of his foray into using an unproven therapy. While the focus is on one man's quest, the article doesn't address the inappropriateness of the physician providing an unproven treatment disguised as medical care.
Ill patients and their families, particularly in the setting of a catastrophic illness such as early onset cognitive impairment, are vulnerable. Therefore, physicians have a responsibility to act in the patient's best interest by offering evidence-based treatments that have been shown scientifically to be effective.
Medicine is always striving to advance, and innovation should be encouraged. But unproven treatments should be tested in objective experiments to advance science, not marketed to unwary patients and families.
It is unprofessional for a physician to profit from ill patients by advertising unproven treatments.
Neil Wenger
Los Angeles
The writer is director of the UCLA Health System Ethics Center.
Ken Chiate has been a friend for more than 40 years. His judgment is excellent, and when friends or family are in need, he does not take baby steps. The doctor said there was no hope, but Chiate looked for some. Had it been my wife, I too would have done all I could.
R.D. Kirwan
Los Angeles
ALSO:
http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFPM7fSGvum5pQsAytOelbJmZ68vw&url=http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/letters/la-le-0509-thursday-alzheimers-20130509,0,4162064.story
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