Medical Futility: Wrong Medicine?

Lawrence Schneiderman, MD

In this edition of The Bioethics Channel host Lorell LaBoube visits with the co-author of a new book, Wrong Medicine - Doctors, Patients and Futile Treatment.

Links:

Podcast, The Bioethics Channel

Wrong Medicine: Doctors, Patients, and Futile Treatment, Book Review, Journal of the American Medical Association, February 1, 2012

Lifesaving Treatment or Wasting Resources?

As I read this I asked myself where and how do we find the line between life saving treatment and wasting resources – and how we ethically get there.

Thoughts?

L2

When Care Is Worth It, Even if End Is Death
Peter B. Bach, M.D.
New York Times
December 12, 2011

I am not saying that every health care dollar is well spent. But five carefully done studies have now shown that hospitals that spend more on caring for sick patients have better outcomes than those that spend less.

The more nuanced reality is that some aggressive treatment delivers value and is appropriate, even though some patients who receive such care die; other treatment is too aggressive and should be curtailed no matter what the short-term outcome.