The development of "medical futility": towards a procedural approach based on the role of the medical profession

Journal of Medical Ethics

Volumn 35, Issue 6, 2009, Pages 369-372

  Moratti, S ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF GRONINGEN   (Netherlands)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ARTICLE; ETHICS; HUMAN; LONG TERM CARE; MEDICAL ETHICS; MORALITY; PATIENT ABANDONMENT; PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE; STANDARD; TREATMENT OUTCOME;

ETHICS, MEDICAL; HUMANS; LIFE SUPPORT CARE; MEDICAL FUTILITY; MORAL OBLIGATIONS; PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE; REFUSAL TO TREAT;

EID: 67249109635     PISSN: 03066800     EISSN: 14734257     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1136/jme.2008.027755     Document Type: Article

References (29)

1. Rubin SB. When doctors say no: the battleground of medical futility. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1998.
2. Murphy DJ. Do-not-resuscitate orders. Time for reappraisal in long-term-care institutions. JAMA 1988;260:2098-101.
3. Youngner SJ. Who defines futility? JAMA 1988;260:2094-5.
4. Tomlinson T, Brody H. Futility and the ethics of resuscitation. JAMA 1990;264:1276-80.
5. Schneiderman LJ, Jecker NS, Jonsen AR. Medical futility: its meaning and ethical implications. Ann Intern Med 1990;112:949-54.
6. Weijer C, Elliott C. Pulling the plug on futility. BMJ 1995;310:683-4.
7. Lantos JD, Singer PA, Walker RM, et al. The illusion of futility in clinical practice. Am J Med 1989;87:81-4.
8. Frick S, Uehlinger DE, Zuercher Zenklusen RM. Medical futility: predicting outcome of intensive care unit patients by nurses and doctors-a prospective comparative study. Crit Care Med 2003;31:456-61.
9. Ridley SA. Uncertainty and scoring systems. Anaesthesia 2002;57:761-7.
10. Ewer MS. The definition of medical futility: are we trying to define the wrong term? Heart Lung 2001;30:3-4.
11. Cohen N. Assessing futility of medical interventions-is it futile? Crit Care Med 2003;31:646-8.
12. Ardagh M. Futility has no utility in resuscitation medicine. J Med Ethics 2005;26:396-401.
13. Schneiderman LJ, Faber-Langendoen K, Jecker N. Beyond futility to an ethic of care. Am J Med 1994;96:110-14.
14. Schneiderman LJ, Jecker NS. Wrong medicine: doctors, patients, and futile treatment. Baltimore: JHU Press, 1995.
15. Schneiderman LJ, Jecker NS, Jonsen AR. Medical futility: response to critiques. Ann Intern Med 1996;125:669-74.
16. Jecker NS, Pearlman RA. Medical futility: who decides? Arch Intern Med 1992;152:1140-4.
17. Anon. Report of the Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs of the American Medical Association. Medical futility in end-of-life care. JAMA 1999;281:937-41.
18. Moldow G, Bartels D, Brunnquell D, et al. Why address medical futility now? New guidelines aim to resolve the inevitable differences of opinion that occur when health care providers or family members deem that further medical care is futile. Minn Med 2004;87:38-44.
19. Moratti S. Italy: the position of the Roman Catholic Church. In: Griffiths J, Weyers H, Adams M, eds. Euthanasia and law in Europe. Oxford: Hart Publishing Company, 2008:397-8.
20. Callahan D. Medical futility, medical necessity: the problem without a name. Hastings Cent Rep 1991;21:30-5.
21. Connelly R. Living with death: the meaning of acceptance. J Humanist Psychol 2003;43:45-63.
22. Singer P. Practical ethics, 2nd edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
23. Capron AM. Abandoning a waning life. Hastings Cent Rep 1995;24:6.
24. Wallace S, Ewer MS, Price KJ, et al. Outcome and cost implications of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the medical intensive care unit of a comprehensive cancer center. Support Care Cancer 2002;10:425-9.
25. Luce JM, Rubenfeld GD. Can health care costs be reduced by limiting intensive care at the end of life? Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2002;165:750-4.
26. Basta L, Tauth J. High technology near the end of life: setting limits. J Am Coll Cardiol 1996;28:1623-30.
27. Burt RA. The medical futility debate: patient choice, physician obligation, and end-of-life care. J Palliat Med 2002;5:249-54.
28. Beauchamp TL, Childress JF. Principles of biomedical ethics, 5th edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
29. Jecker NS, Schneiderman LJ. Futility and rationing. Am J Med 1992;92:189-96.