Sociology

Medical futility refers to a medical approach where physicians reach to a conclusion that a certain medical treatment that has been administered upon a patient is not of any use to them as it does not help the condition of the patient. For example, a treatment that keeps a patient on permanent condition of unconsciousness or makes a patient depend entirely on intensive care unit can be declared as useless or futile. However the whole contentious of medical futility has proven to be contentious over the years with the main question being, whether it is the prerogative of physicians to declare a treatment futile or whether members of the family of the patient ought to be involved.
Medical futility is classified into two major categories which include quantitative futility and qualitative futility. In quantitative futility the kind of medical treatment given to a patient is seen not to offer any kind of benefit to the patient. Qualitative futility is where it is argued that the kind of benefit that a medical treatment offered to the patient will not make any significant difference as a far as the condition of the patient is concerned.
Whenever physicians realize that a medical treatment is futile they have ethical obligations which they are required to live up to. There is an ethical requirement that physicians should allow patient to choose the mode of treatment that wish to have administered on them. However physicians are supposed to advice patients to chose a method which they (physicians know shall be of benefit to the patients.
The authority to decide whether a particular treatment is futile or not lies with the whole medical fraternity and not an individual physician. Thus in deciding whether a treatment is futile the decision made must confirm to the professional standards of the medical fraternity.
In some cases despite the decision of the physician to declare a treatment futile, family members of the patient may insists that the physician carries on with the treatment. The physician in this case has an ethical obligation to communicate openly with family members of the patient while explaining the rationale for declaring the treatment as futile. In some cases in order to prevent the family members from getting distressed it may be important for the physician to continue temporarily with the futile treatment to enable the family come to terms with the decision. During this period the physician must show great understanding with a lot of compassion required towards the family.
Making a decision on futility of a particular treatment requires concrete medical evidence. If no empirical evidence is available to prove that a medical treatment is futile then this is referred to as experimental. It is important for physicians to observe all the ethical codes that govern declaration of a treatment being futile to ensure that the life of patient is not put to danger and the family members are not left in distress.
In conclusion therefore when physicians are making a decision regarding futile treatment family members must always be brought into the picture and they should be made to understand the reason why such a crucial decision has been made on their patient.