What if the patient or family requests an intervention that the health care team considers futile?

In such situations, physicians have a duty to communicate openly with the patient or family members about interventions that are being withheld or withdrawn and to explain the rationale for such decisions. It is important to approach such conversations with compassion for the patient and grieving family. For example, rather than saying to a patient or family, “there is nothing I can do for you,” it is important to emphasize that “everything possible will be done to ensure the patient’s comfort and dignity.”


In such situations, physicians have a duty to communicate openly with the patient or family members about interventions that are being withheld or withdrawn and to explain the rationale for such decisions. It is important to approach such conversations with compassion for the patient and grieving family. For example, rather than saying to a patient or family, “there is nothing I can do for you,” it is important to emphasize that “everything possible will be done to ensure the patient’s comfort and dignity.”

In some instances, it may be appropriate to continue temporarily to make a futile intervention available in order to assist the patient or family in coming to terms with the gravity of their situation and reaching a point of personal closure. For example, a futile intervention for a terminally ill patient may be continued temporarily in order to allow time for a loved one arriving from another state to see the patient for the last time.