Families and Futility: Forestalling Demands for Futile Treatment

Journal of Clinical Ethics 16 (4):335-344 (2005)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

The most common approach to the problem of requests for futile treatment – the hospital futility policy – rests on the assumption that demands for futile treatment are both intractable and irrational. But there is another approach to the futility problem, an approach that would be dialogic, piecemeal, and case-by-case. This is the only approach that attempts to deal with both the hospital’s problem and the patient’s or family’s problem that motivates the request/demand for futile treatments. As such, it holds the promise of resolving the problem of demands for futile treatment in a way that does not generate anger and ill will at the hospital staff for what will inevitably strike patients and their families as a blatant assertion of the hospital’s power.

Author's Profile

John Hardwig
University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Analytics

Added to PP
2013-10-30

Downloads
346 (#64,384)

6 months
111 (#46,768)

Historical graph of downloads since first upload
This graph includes both downloads from PhilArchive and clicks on external links on PhilPapers.
How can I increase my downloads?