Tackling Medical Futility in Texas

Abstract

For several weeks this spring, national attention was focused on a mother's struggle to prevent the Children's Hospital of Austin from withdrawing life support from her infant son, Emilio Gonzales. The Gonzales case is the most recent in a series of famous “futility” cases. Dr. Robert Truog discusses futility cases and The Texas Advance Directives Act. Robert Truog discusses the concept of medical futility, hospital policies on withdrawing care, and the relevant law in Texas, where the Emilio Gonzales case took place. Dr. Truog is a professor of medical ethics and pediatric anesthesia at Harvard Medical School and a senior associate in critical care medicine at Children's Hospital, Boston.