Re: IF you were a Medical Doctor ..
Well, actually, IT IS UPTO THE DOCTOR, to decide if the benefits of therapy outweigh the risks or not. If all the evidence suggests that therapy will do more harm than good, he is under no obligation to provide therapy, even if the patient wants to have therapy. However doc HAS TO TAKE PERMISSION of pt to provide treatment.
in US docs can recommend and lay out their recommendations, following those or doing something else is upto a patient. whether to take a more aggressive course of action or less. My sister was diagnosed with cancer and has succesfully battled it, by going for a more aggressive treatment than was recommended by her oncologist. She had to make a case on why she wanted to go that aggressive, but she got what she wanted.