title: Futility clarified.
abstract: Futility is easily defined as uselessness. The mistaken appearance that it cannot be defined is explained by difficulties applying it to particular cases. This latter problem is a major goal of clinical training and cannot be solved in a pithy statement.
authors.affiliation: University of Colorado at Boulder, USA.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chwang
mesh_terms: D026689:Ethical Analysis; D006801:Humans; D018447:Medical Futility / Q000941:ethics*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D014481:United States