Wrong Medicine: Doctors, Patients, and Futile Treatment

by Schneiderman, Lawrence J., M.D.

• ISBN13: 9780801898518
• ISBN10: 080189851X
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-03-01
• Publisher: JOHNS HOPKINS UNIV PRESS

Summary

Too often, patients in American hospitals are subjected to painful, expensive, and futile treatments because of a physician's notion of medical duty or a family's demands. Lawrence J. Schneiderman and Nancy S. Jecker renew their call for common sense and realistic expectations in medicine in this revised and updated edition of Wrong Medicine.Written by a physician and a philosopher -- both internationally recognized experts in medical ethics -- Wrong Medicine addresses key topics that have occupied the media and the courts for the past several decades, including the wrenching Terry Schiavo case. The book combines clear descriptions of ethical principles with real clinical stories to discuss the medical, legal, and political issues that confront doctors today as they seek to provide the best medical care to critically ill patients.The authors have added two chapters that outline theoretical, legislative, judicial, and clinical developments since the first edition. Based on the latest empirical research, Wrong Medicine continues to guide a broad range of health care professionals through the challenges of providing humane end-of-life care.Critical acclaim for the first edition of Wrong Medicine"A thoughtful discussion of a difficult and pervasive bioethical problem -- one made all the more critical by current concerns about limited resources. This book brings common sense to bear on one of the more intractable issues facing medical ethicists today. A useful and timely contribution." -- New England Journal of Medicine"A lucid and important contribution to the field that moves us toward both a more scientific and a more humane approach to making treatment decisions at the end of life." -- Health Affairs

Author Biography

Lawrence J. Schneiderman, M.D., is an emeritus professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine and the Department of Medicine at the School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego. Nancy S. Jecker, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Bioethics and Humanities and an adjunct professor in the Department of Philosophy and School of Law at the University of Washington, Seattle.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Second Edition	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Are Doctors Supposed to Be Doing This?	p. 1
Why It Is Hard to Say No	p. 23
Why We Must Say No	p. 37
Families Who Say, ôDo Everything!ö	p. 57
Futility and Rationing	p. 74
Medical Futility in a Litigious Society	p. 89
Ethical Implications of Medical Futility	p. 104
The Way It Is Now/The Way It Ought to Be: For Patients	p. 131
The Way It Is Now/The Way It Ought to Be: For Health Professionals	p. 144
The High Points: Medical Futility	p. 167
Medical Futility: Where Do We Stand Now?	p. 183
Notes	p. 195
Index	p. 221
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