OBJECTIVES To assess whether UK and US health care professionals share the views of medical ethicists about medical futility, withdrawing/withholding treatment, ordinary/extraordinary interventions, and the doctrine of double effect. DESIGN, SUBJECTS AND SETTING A 138-item attitudinal questionnaire completed by 469 UK nurses studying the Open University course on "Death and Dying" was compare...

BACKGROUND Management and palliation of pancreatic head adenocarcinoma is challenging. End-of-life decision-making is a variable process involving multiple factors. METHODS We conducted a qualitative, physician-based, 40-question international survey characterizing the impact of medical, religious, social, training and system factors on care. RESULTS A total of 258 international clinicians ...

Dr Hinshaw: Welcome to the general session entitled “When Do We Stop, and How Do We Do It? Medical Futility and Withdrawal of Care.” This symposium is one of an ongoing series of symposia focused on palliative care organized by the Work Group for Surgical Palliative Care, jointly sponsored by the College and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. We are fortunate to be able to make this a highly i...

Background and aims: The concept and meaning of futile care depends on the existing culture, values,religion, beliefs, medical achievements, and emotional status of a country. In Iran, futile care hasbecome a challenge for nurses working in intensive care units (ICUs). Considering the differencesobserved in defining futile care based on the patients’ conditions and the nurses’...

The concepts of medical futility and rationing are often misunderstood and lead to significant consternation when resources are stretched and pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) beds are unavailable. While the two concepts overlap, each has its own distinct application and moral justification. Most importantly, we should avoid using one to justify the other. Bioethics professionals should assi...