Following Kasman (2004), a treatment is futile when it does not perform a profitable function to achieve a specific outcome for the patient concerned (p. 1053).......
Full Answer
When would a treatment be considered medically futile?
“Futility means any treatment that, within a reasonable degree of medical certainty, is seen to be without benefit to the patient, as when the treatment at issue is seen as ineffective with regard to a clinical problem that it would ordinarily be used to treat.”
How is medical futility determined?
If a physician believes, after carefully onsidering the patient's medical status, values and goals, that a particular medical treatment is futile because it violates the principles of beneficence and justice, then the physician is ethically and professionally obligated to resist administering this treatment.
In what circumstances are medical treatments not indicated?
This last situation occurs when a patient is so seriously ill or injured that sound clinical judgment would suggest that the goals of restoration of health and function are unattainable and, thus, certain medical interventions that usually perform these functions are not indicated or should be limited.
What is futile nursing care?
Futile care was defined as useless and inconclusive care, leading to the squandering of financial resources and patient/nurse discomfort, with both nursing and medical aspects.
What is a medical futility law?
The term medical futility refers to a physician's determination that a therapy will be of no benefit to a patient and therefore should not be prescribed. But physicians use a variety of methods to make these determinations and may not arrive at the same conclusions.
What is the principle of futility?
The specific term 'futility' first appeared in medical ethics in the 1980s. The idea was that if doctors identified that a particular treatment was 'futile', this would solve the problem of conflicts. Doctors had no obligation to provide futile treatment, and so it wouldn't be paternalistic if they refused to do so.
Is life sustaining therapy needed when it's futile?
The law has long recognised that providing continued life-sustaining treatment to very sick and critically ill patients may be futile. The courts have consistently rejected an absolutist approach to care and treatment that requires doctors and nurses to continue with futile treatment right up to the point of death.
Do patients have the right to refuse life sustaining treatment?
Under federal law, the Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA) guarantees the right to refuse life sustaining treatment at the end of life.
What is considered life sustaining treatment?
Life-sustaining treatment is any treatment that serves to prolong life without reversing the underlying medical condition. Life-sustaining treatment may include, but is not limited to, mechanical ventilation, renal dialysis, chemotherapy, antibiotics, and artificial nutrition and hydration.
What is abandonment of a patient?
Abandonment is considered a breach of duty and is defined as unilateral termination of the physician-patient relationship without providing adequate notice for the patient to obtain substitute medical care. The patient-physician relationship must have been established for abandonment to occur.
What is physiological futility?
physiologic futility a judgment of medical futility based on the observation of no physiologic effect of the treatment.
What are the ethical obligations of physicians when a health care provider judges an intervention is futile?
Physicians have no obligation to offer treatments that do not benefit patients. Futile interventions may increase a patient's pain and discomfort in the final days and weeks of life; give patients and family false hope; delay palliative and comfort care; and expend finite medical resources.
What does not indicated mean in medical terms?
nonindicated (not comparable) (medicine) Not indicated (suggested by symptoms as a suitable remedy).
What does indicated mean in medical terms?
In medicine, an indication is a valid reason to use a certain test, medication, procedure, or surgery. There can be multiple indications to use a procedure or medication. An indication can commonly be confused with the term diagnosis.
Is the most commonly used complementary and alternative medicine therapy among US adults?
The most frequently seen providers for CAM treatments were physicians (71.0% of patients), spiritual healers (29.0%), and chiropractors (20.3%). CAM treatments most frequently received from a physician were massage therapy (51.0%), hijama (38.8%), spiritual healing (24.5%), and acupuncture or herbs (16.3%).
What is utilization delay?
'Appraisal delay' described the time a person takes to evaluate a symptom as a sign of illness, 'illness delay' the time the person takes from the first sign of illness until deciding to seek professional medical care, and 'utilization delay' the time from the decision to seek care until the person consults a HCP.
Abstract
A difficult ethical conundrum in clinical medicine is determining when to withdraw or withhold treatments deemed medically futile.
Affiliations
Department of Internal Medicine, Center for Clinical Bioethics, 4000 Reservoir Road, Building D, Room #234, 20057, Washington, DC
Key words
Lascaratos J, Poulakou-Rebelakaou E, Marketos S. Abandonment of terminally ill patients in the Byzantine era. An ancient tradition? J Med Ethics. 1999;25:254–8.
