Illustration : Statue of the great physician Galen in his home town Pergamon – WikiMedia

Article n° 35 of the WORLD MEDICAL ASSOCIATION DECLARATION OF HELSINKI – Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects states :

In the treatment of a patient, where proven interventions do not exist or have been ineffective, the physician, after seeking expert advice, with informed consent from the patient or a legally authorized representative, may use an unproven intervention if in the physician’s judgement it offers hope of saving life, re-establishing health or alleviating suffering. Where possible, this intervention should be made the object of research, designed to evaluate its safety and efficacy. In all cases, new information should be recorded and, where appropriate, made publicly available.

An argument against Second medicine therapies is often “unproved”.

Article 35 states that unproven intervention may be used.

The Hippocratic Oath says : I swear … I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures …