The cruelty of false hope

Among claims made in an article in the Times for the efficacy of essential fatty acids in treating osteoporosis, restenosis after angioplasty, and human immunodeficiency virus was a claim of “impressive results in delaying death in patients suffering from pancreatic tumours.” A friend of my fiance's family was recently diagnosed as having pancreatic carcinoma with hepatic metastases and is now in a hospice. My future father in law telephoned me in a state of some excitement. He is not a medical man, but claimed a healthy scepticism: “95% chance that it's a load of cobblers, …