Futility in evolution.
Clin Geriatr Med
; 21(1): 211-22, x, 2005 Feb.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-15639047
ABSTRACT
Must health care professionals provide treatments or interventions that they consider futile? Although much of the past and current debate about futility has centered on how to best define futility, it is the application of the concept in clinical decision making that is of central concern. Most physicians feel confident that they know futile treatment when they see it, but despite years of debate in scholarly journals, professional meetings, and popular media, consensus on a precise definition eludes us still. This article reviews numerous definitions of futility to illustrate the general lack of consensus over this concept. It also provides a flexible definition of futility that is patient centered and reliant on goals of care as the morally preferable definition. In short, the concept of futility as a means to resolve disputes over treatment decisions may, itself, be futile.
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Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Futilidade Médica
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2005
Tipo de documento:
Article