Description
Book SynopsisSurveys the clinical and psychosocial dimensions of decision making in situations when the choice is between extending costly medical treatment of uncertain effectiveness, or terminating treatment thereby ending the patient's life. With contributors from various disciplines, it will be obligatory reading for all those with ethical standards in medical care.
Trade Review'The conflict between patients' automony and choice and professionals' decision making is at the core of Medical Futility … It analyses care at the end of life in cultural, religious, and ethical contexts, as well as the economic consequences of providing treatments that are of little benefit at this, or indeed, any, time.' Alex Paton, British Medical Journal
'For those wishing for insight it will provide food for thought.' Gina Agarwal, The Lancet
' … useful contribution to the public debate.' Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine
'The 25 contributors, 10 from disciplines other than medicine, address with authority a range of issues associated with the concept of medical futility in various clinical settings … The message of hope from this though-provoking book is that conflict can be avoided in most cases by good communication between doctor and patient and the exercise of common sense.' Neuroradiology 40
'A valuable contribution to a subject of immense practical importance and warmly recommended.' John Saunders, Journal of Medical Ethics
' … a compact treatment of a complex subject … a very accessible book, clearly written and easy to read … a good introduction … a good, basic introduction to an important topic in bioethics.' The New England Journal of Medicine
Table of ContentsPreface; Foreword Alexander Morgan Capron; Contributors; 1. Medical futility: a useful concept? Howard Brody; 2. Death with dignity Patricia Brophy; 3. Physicians and medical futility: experience in the critical care setting Harry S. Rafkin and Thomas Rainey; 4. Physicians and medical futility: experience in the setting of general medical care Norton Spritz; 5. Futility issues in pediatrics Joel E. Frader and Jon Watchko; 6. Medical futility: a nusing home perspective Ellen Knapik Bartoldus; 7. Alternative medicine and medical futility Joseph J. Jacobs; 8. How culture and religion affect attitudes toward medical futility Mary F. Morrison and Sarah Gelbach DeMichele; 9. When religious views and medical judgements conflict: civic polity and the social good John J. Paris and Mark Poorman; 10. Conflict resolution: experience of consultation-liaison psychiatrists James J. Strain, Stephen L. Snyder and Martin Drooker; 11. Ethics committees and end of life decision making Alice Herb and Eliot J. Lazar; 12. The economics of futile interventions Donald J. Murphy; 13. Medical futility: a legal perspective William Prip and Anna Moretti; 14. Professional and public community projects for developing medical futility guidelines Linda Johnson and Robert Lyman Potter; 15. Community futility policies: the illusion of consensus? Bethany Spielman; 16. Not quite the last word: scenarios and solutions Karen Orloff Kaplan; Indexes.
