Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, Critical Care - Intensive Care - ICUs, JAMA / 11.09.2013
ICU Critical Care: Costs and Perceived Futility
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Thanh N. Huynh, MD, MSHS
Clinical Instructor
UCLA Division of Pulmonary Critical Care
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Huynh: Our study shows that it is common for ICU doctors to recognize that futile treatment is provided to patients who cannot benefit from it. In our study, 11% of ICU patients were perceived as receiving futile treatment. The outcomes of these 123 patients were uniformly poor, with 85% dying within 6 months. Advances in critical care medicine has allowed us to save lives, but it has also allowed us provide aggressive life-sustaining treatments that may not benefit all patients. When aggressive treatment is poorly matched with a patient’s prognosis, doctors will consider such treatment as futile and our study shows that this is not an uncommon occurrence in our health system.
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