Advance Directives, Due Process, and Medical Futility

Abstract

Letters2 March 2004Advance Directives, Due Process, and Medical FutilityRobert L. Fine, MD and Thomas Wm. Mayo, JDRobert L. Fine, MDFrom Baylor Health Care System, Dallas, TX 75204, and Southern Methodist University/Dedman School of Law, Dallas, TX 75275.Search for more papers by this author and Thomas Wm. Mayo, JDFrom Baylor Health Care System, Dallas, TX 75204, and Southern Methodist University/Dedman School of Law, Dallas, TX 75275.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-140-5-200403020-00024 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail IN RESPONSE:Berger suggests that the term futility “defies meaningful or clinically useful definition” and suggests that medically appropriate is the better term. Finucane, on the other hand, acknowledges that futility may have qualitative and/or physiologic components, but he goes on to suggest that futility is a “smokescreen.” Our experience suggests that although some find futility difficult to define, most physicians now know it when they see it (to paraphrase the late Justice Potter Stewart). We find the term useful not as a smokescreen, but as a quick reference to a class of patients who cannot recover or get well, ... Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Robert L. Fine, MD; Thomas Wm. Mayo, JDAffiliations: From Baylor Health Care System, Dallas, TX 75204, and Southern Methodist University/Dedman School of Law, Dallas, TX 75275. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoResolution of Futility by Due Process: Early Experience with the Texas Advance Directives Act Robert L. Fine and Thomas Wm. Mayo Advance Directives, Due Process, and Medical Futility Jeffrey T. Berger Advance Directives, Due Process, and Medical Futility Thomas E. Finucane Advance Directives, Due Process, and Medical Futility Anne L. Flamm and Martin L. Smith Metrics 2 March 2004Volume 140, Issue 5Page: 404KeywordsFearImmunityMedical ethicsMedical lawMotivation ePublished: 2 March 2004 Issue Published: 2 March 2004 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2004 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...