Medical Futility: A Growing Legal, Ethical, and Moral DilemmaA set of questions and divergent opinions regarding medical care for very seriously ill patients have obsessed bioethics. community for decades. While sophisticated medical technology has allowed people to live longer, it has also led to prolonged deaths, most often to the detriment of individuals and their families. Ira Byock, director of palliative medicine at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, believes that too many Americans are "dying seriously." Discussing this issue, he said: “Families cannot imagine that there could be anything worse than the death of their loved one, but in fact there are worse things. » “It’s having someone you love… suffering, dying connected to machines” (CBS News, 2014). In the not-so-distant past, the knowledge, skills and technology were simply not available to cure, let alone prolong the death of, seriously ill people. Aside from the ethical and moral dilemmas this poses, the costs of intensive treatment often do not generate appreciable benefits. However, cost alone should not determine when care becomes “futile,” as this plunges medicine into an even more dangerous ethical quagmire. While preserving life with the best possible care is always good medicine, the prolonged suffering and death caused by continued reliance on futile measures benefits no one. For this reason, the determination of futility should be a joint decision between the physician, the patient and their surrogate mother. exists • Physiological futility: it is impossible to achieve the desired result • Was imminent extinction...... middle of document ......acific Railway Co. v. Botsford - 141 US 250 (1891). Retrieved from Justia United States Supreme Court: http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/141/250/case.html Karnes, B. (2003). The last act of life. Depoe Bay: Barbara Karnes Books, Inc. Kasman, D.L. (2004). When is medical treatment useless? Journal of General Internal Medicine, 1053-1056. Mohr, M. and Kettler, D. (1997). Ethical aspects of resuscitation. British Journal of Anaesthesia, 253. Morrison, E.E. (2011). Justice for patients. In Ethics in Health Administration - A Practical Approach for Decision-Makers (p. 66). Sudbury, Massachusetts, United States of America: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. van Bogaert, KD and Ga, O. (February 2014). Ethical questions in family medicine: medical futility - the debate. Retrieved from South African Family Practice: http://www.safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/viewFile/20/20

Essay / Medical Futility: A Growing Legal, Ethical, and Moral DilemmaA set of questions and divergent opinions regarding medical care for very seriously ill patients have obsessed bioethics. community for decades. While sophisticated medical technology has allowed people to live longer, it has also led to prolonged deaths, most often to the detriment of individuals and their families. Ira Byock, director of palliative medicine at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, believes that too many Americans are "dying seriously." Discussing this issue, he said: “Families cannot imagine that there could be anything worse than the death of their loved one, but in fact there are worse things. » “It’s having someone you love… suffering, dying connected to machines” (CBS News, 2014). In the not-so-distant past, the knowledge, skills and technology were simply not available to cure, let alone prolong the death of, seriously ill people. Aside from the ethical and moral dilemmas this poses, the costs of intensive treatment often do not generate appreciable benefits. However, cost alone should not determine when care becomes “futile,” as this plunges medicine into an even more dangerous ethical quagmire. While preserving life with the best possible care is always good medicine, the prolonged suffering and death caused by continued reliance on futile measures benefits no one. For this reason, the determination of futility should be a joint decision between the physician, the patient and their surrogate mother. exists • Physiological futility: it is impossible to achieve the desired result • Was imminent extinction...... middle of document ......acific Railway Co. v. Botsford - 141 US 250 (1891). Retrieved from Justia United States Supreme Court: http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/141/250/case.html Karnes, B. (2003). The last act of life. Depoe Bay: Barbara Karnes Books, Inc. Kasman, D.L. (2004). When is medical treatment useless? Journal of General Internal Medicine, 1053-1056. Mohr, M. and Kettler, D. (1997). Ethical aspects of resuscitation. British Journal of Anaesthesia, 253. Morrison, E.E. (2011). Justice for patients. In Ethics in Health Administration - A Practical Approach for Decision-Makers (p. 66). Sudbury, Massachusetts, United States of America: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. van Bogaert, KD and Ga, O. (February 2014). Ethical questions in family medicine: medical futility - the debate. Retrieved from South African Family Practice: http://www.safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/viewFile/20/20

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