Medical futility has been proposed for many years to define the procedure that simply prolongs the suffering of patients but heals nothing [1] . To deal with the decision procedure for treatment, two ideas arise: patients9 autonomy and doctors9 authority. Widely recognized in 1960s, patients9 autonomy respected patients9 willingness over treatment, requiring specific consent for treatment and r...

This essay opens with background information about the concept of "medical futility" and the regulation of nontreatment decisions in Dutch neonatology. The regulations include a list of criteria for predicting the baby's future quality of life. The second part presents the findings from interviews with fourteen Dutch neonatologists on the mannerin which they apply the criteria in their practice.

Decisions for critically ill infants with trisomy 18 raise thorny issues about values, futility, the burdens of treatment, cost-effectiveness, and justice. We presented the case of an infant with trisomy 18 to 2 neonatologists with experience in clinical ethics, Annie Janvier and Felix Okah, and to a parent, Barbara Farlow. They do not agree about the right thing to do.

published by admin on Mon, 09/08/2014 3:07pm Title Futility studies: spending a little to save a lot. Publication Type Journal Article Year of Publication 2006 Authors Schwid, SR, Cutter, GR Journal Neurology Volume 66 Issue 5 Pagination 626-7 Date Published 2006 Mar 14 ISSN 1526-632X