medical futility


futility

 [fu-til´ĭ-te] the quality of not leading to a desired result.medical futility the judged futility of medical care, used as a reason to limit care. Two reasons for making this judgment are (1) to conserve resources and (2) to protect clinician integrity. The types are physiologic futility and normative futility.normative futility a judgment of medical futility made for a treatment that is seen to have a physiologic effect but is believed to have no benefit.physiologic futility a judgment of medical futility based on the observation of no physiologic effect of the treatment.

medical futility

Ethics
A subjective term encompassing a range of possibilities of whether a patient will benefit from efforts designed to improve his or her life and survive to discharge from a healthcare facility. 
Application of the futility rationale in withholding or withdrawing medical interventions (e.g., do not resuscitate orders) requires both practice guidelines and a better understanding of the concept of medical futility in general. For example, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is divided into quantitative futility (low probability of success) and qualitative futility (poor quality of life if CPR is performed); this definition for futility may be a stumbling block in determining whether a person should be subjected to CPR if the likelihood for a “meaningful existence” is minimal.
Medtalk
The lack of efficacy of a particular manoeuvre in reducing morbidity and mortality.

medical futility

Futile resuscitation, futility Biomedical ethics A subjective term that encompasses a range of probabilities that a Pt will benefit from efforts designed to improve his life and survive to discharge from a health care facility Medtalk The lack of efficacy of a particular maneuver in ↓ M&M. See Advance directive, DNR, Futility. See DNR orders. Cf Euthanasia.