>>Even worse the situation is for treatments. There are no randomized trail regulations for treatments (not that I know off).
>
>You're kidding, right? Treatments are tested in the same way as medications, usually with double-blind studies. (In some cases, there's no ethical way to have a placebo treatment without the doctors knowing.) Insurance generally won't pay for treatments that haven't been proven by such studies. tha

As Bruce pointed out, for treatment as a whole protocol (procedures and drugs) there are no regulations. A physician can experiment with procedures, including radiation, without regulations. Double blind studies are often not possible as both the patient and the physician knows e.g. whether they received radiation rather than medications.

Things are different with drugs where placebo's are often practical. But not always. For example the use of smoking pot for the treatment of brain cancer: How do you envision to do a double blind study on that?

Walter,