Aspects of Futile Care: What to do when there's nothing to do

From ethical, societal, and financial perspectives, we will discuss what it would mean to consider medical care a futile effort and what physicians’ obligations might be in response to requests by patients or families for care that is deemed futile. Is the withholding of futile medical care an infringement on patient and family “autonomy?” How do costs enter into a judgment that medical care is futile? Are standards for “futility” the prerogative of the medical profession, or should they arise out of a broader social deliberation?
Marc D Basson, MD, PhD, MBA
Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery (East) in the College of Human Medicine at MSU
Recorded March 14, 2012