Stealing time . The notion that terminal patients have nothing to lose by turning to quackery is dead wrong. Most people faced with a life-threatening disease can make a reasonable psychological adjustment. Those who accept their fate are in the best position to use their remaining time wisely. I know of two similar cases.
Quacks discourage people from making the difficult adjustment by reinforcing their denial.
Such people usually die unprepared because preparation for death is an admission of failure. Distortion of perspective . Unable to gauge how good a generally good thing is, they will overdose on vitamins, essential minerals, or dietary fiber. Harm to Society Quackery can also harm our democratic society when large numbers of people hold wrong beliefs about the nature of cancer and the best way to deal with it. The results can be far-reaching.