Wrong Medicine

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.

• Preface to the Second EditionAcknowledgments1. Are Doctors Supposed to Be Doing This?2. Why It Is Hard to Say No3. Why We Must Say No4. Families Who Say, "Do Everything!"5. Futility and Rationing6. Medical Futility in a Litigious Society7. Ethical Implications of Medical Futility8. The Way It Is Now / The Way It Ought to Be: For Patients9. The Way It Is Now / The Way It Ought to Be: For Health Professionals10. The High Points: Medical Futility11. Medical Futility: Where Do We Stand Now?NotesIndex

"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)"