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Previous Volume 329:354-357 July 29, 1993 Number 5 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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Three years ago we noted that the literature on physicians' refusal to provide requested treatment was sparse¹. Since that time the issue has fueled an intense, two-pronged debate -- on futility and on the limits of patient autonomy. The debate over patient autonomy is a genuinely philosophical dispute; that over futility seems to be a relapse into nominalism. It is not the meaning of a word but the moral basis for the actions of the participants that ought to be the focus of our attention. The fractious debate on the meaning of futility, evidenced in a spate of recent . . . [Full Text of this Article]

The Case of a Patient with End-Stage Pulmonary Failure Receiving Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation

Commentary

The Decision-Making Process

Outcome

Conclusions

References

Related Letters:

Physicians' Refusal to Provide Inappropriate Treatment
Raffin T. A., Nelson R. M., Nelson L. J., Foley J. M., Paris J. J., Schreiber M. D.
Extract | Full Text  
N Engl J Med 1994; 330:144-146, Jan 13, 1994. Correspondence

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