Medical Futility: Institutional and Legislative Initiatives

Abstract:     
This document is a transcript of the author’s invited testimony to the U.S. President’s Council on Bioethics on medical futility in institutional and legislative initiatives. This is not a formal academic research paper; however, it is presented to be informational. Dr. Pope illustrates and defines a futility dispute, identifies the causes of futility disputes, explores intractable disputes, explains institutional policies and their relationship to law, describes state differences in safe harbor laws, and highlights the exception of Texas.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 14

Keywords: medical initiative, institutional initiative, legislative initiative, futility dispute, safe harbor, health care

JEL Classification: K32

Accepted Paper Series