What is Futile Care? Who knows? Medicine is obligated to provide ordinary care. This includes housing, warmth, human touch and nutrition and hydration. Medicine is never obligated to extra-ordinary care. That's where the rub is. What is extra-ordinary today, in our advanced technology may become ordinary tomorrow. Futile Care legislation is a stepping stone to euthanasia. There is no question that many of the procedures and surgeries that we do in medicine should never be done. Many of these patient's qualify for palliative care or hospice. Certainly for comfort and care. Not aggressive intervention.
With the advent of protective advance directives, remember (these were the legislative focus of the euthanasia movement many years ago) medicine was replaced by the public in the form of a proxy decision maker. Decisions that used to be left to medicine now are left to the proxy. Often times, probably 90%, the proxy has never spoken to the person whose decision they will make if that person becomes unable to make their own decisions. Based on this decision (which is legal binding) health care is often forced to provide Futile Care.
There are many factors at work here. Who provides Futile Care? Why is Futile Care delivered in hospitals today? Some of the reasons are the animosity of the legal system with he health-care system. Health care is frequently sued in Futile law suits. With reimbursement dollars shrinking and the number of insured patients waning, who pays?
All of these arguments can only be summed up by saying, medicine can never be legislated. The Health Care Conscience Rules become very important to keep in place, or there will be no protection in health care.
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