A consultant who is an oncologist may have a bias toward aggressive treatment, while a consultant who is a consumer advocate may have a bias toward inexpensive approaches.
Dr. Kruger, the New York oncologist, says his consulting often takes the form of brokering between doctors who offer conflicting advice or treatment.
One New York oncologist loudly declared: "This is not a remedy.
The oncologist should be able to evaluate any cancer patient and recommend appropriate therapy.
Mr Tabare Vazquez, the charismatic socialist mayor of Montevideo, has yet formally to toss his hat into the ring for the left-wing Frente Amplio. The neatly groomed Mr Vazquez, a practising oncologist, is clearly moving to the right to broaden his appeal.
But Dr. Ivan Silverberg, a medical oncologist in San Francisco, said that among cancer and AIDS patients, "there's still a lot of interest" in using marijuana to control nausea and pain.
A Travelers spokeswoman says the Lupro case is "being reviewed with an outside oncologist." The Lupros are caught up in one of the nation's fiercest health-care debates.
"I hope the controversy around RU-486 doesn't prevent the use of this drug for other purposes," said Steven Grunberg, a USC associate professor of medicine and oncologist who led the brain and tumor study.