Philosophy 2715F/G Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Upper Respiratory Tract Infection, Resource Allocation, Confidence Interval
17 Feb 2017
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Last week, we asked the question: who may make their own medical decisions: who is autonomous, who possesses decision making capacity. The right to self-determination means the patient has the right to refuse any treatment, even life-saving ones. If a patient may refuse any treatment, does she have the right to demand a particular treatment? (e. g. an antibiotic for a viral infection challenges the professional autonomy of doctors) Authors of the concept of medical futility. Provides grounds for unilateral physician action regarding a treatment which is medically futile. A futile action is (cid:862)o(cid:374)e that cannot achieve the stated goals of the action, no matter how often repeated(cid:863) Two types of futility: quantitative futility t(cid:396)eat(cid:373)e(cid:374)t that (cid:272)a(cid:374)(cid:859)t (cid:449)o(cid:396)k. Antibiotics for a viral upper respiratory tract infection: qualitative futility treatment works in some narrow sense but it supports inappropriate ends. Continuing life support for a patient who will remain unconscious.
