title: The Conscientious Practice Policy: a futility policy for acute care hospitals.
abstract: Much attention has been paid in recent years to the conflict that may occur when patients or their families insist on a therapy that the physician feels would be futile. In 1999 the Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs of the American Medical Association recommended that all health-care institutions adopt a policy on medical futility that follows a fair process. Development of such a policy has proved problematic for many hospitals. The Conscientious Practice Policy at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital was developed as a response to the AMA recommendation. It outlines a specific process to be followed in the event that a physician wishes to refuse to provide a requested therapy, whether that refusal is based on perceived futility or other concerns. The policy was subsequently modified slightly and adopted by two other Connecticut acute care hospitals.
authors.affiliation: Ethics Committee, Lawrence & Memorial Hospital, New London, USA.
authors.forename: Mark R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Mercurio
mesh_terms: D000574:American Medical Association; D003237:Connecticut; D028741:Ethics Committees, Clinical; D026690:Ethics, Clinical; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006739:Hospital Administration / Q000941:ethics*; D006801:Humans; D018447:Medical Futility; D016134:Organizational Policy; D011050:Policy Making; D016079:Refusal to Treat / Q000941:ethics*; D014481:United States