Thứ Sáu, 16 tháng 8, 2013

Medical Futility Comprises Significant Fraction of Ethics Consults

In a piece forthcoming in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Andrew G. Shuman and colleagues at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center reviewed clinical ethics consultation databases at two institutions from 2007 through 2011 that related to adult patients with cancer.  They identified a total of 208 eligible patient cases. The most common primary issues leading to ethics consultation were:


  • Code status and advance directives (25%)

  • Surrogate decision making (17%)

  • Medical futility (13%)


Furthermore, the authors identified:


  • Communication lapses in 45% of cases

  • Interpersonal conflict in 51% of cases



I have previously blogged other studies showing that medical futility comprised 33% of consults, a top 4 issue in consults, and even >50% of consults.




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