Orac thoughtfully looks at the controversy surrounding this issue:
Don’t even get me started on the liability issues involved. It’s impossible to give truly informed consent regarding a drug that hasn’t made it through at least Phase II testing. Given the litigious nature of the U.S., it’s highly unlikely that a blanket immunization from liability to physicians prescribing such drugs or drug companies making them would pass muster. And the flip side of the coin, of course, is that it is possible to imagine physicians being held liable for not pursuing experimental therapies.
