It is hard to claim pure motives when suggesting that patients try untested therapies

Here is a link to the editorial by James Glazer on the Ethics of Alternative Medicine.

The article explains how physicians are motivated to use alternative medicine by patients asking about herbs or magnets, and why it is wrong to use a placebo even if the patient feels relief from a treatment.

Some of the reasons mentioned are that lying can't outweigh the damage done to the patient's autonomy and trust. Another reason is that it is only assumed that placebo will not hurt, safety is not really proven to today's randomized, controlled standards.

The ethics of alternative medicine is not an alternative standard.