When is CPR ‘futile’?

CPR is “futile” when it offers the patient no clinical benefit. When CPR offers no benefit, you as a physician are ethically justified in withholding resuscitation. Clearly it is important to define what it means to “be of benefit.” The distinction between merely providing measurable effects (e.g. normalizing the serum potassium) and providing benefits is helpful in this deliberation.

CPR is “futile” when it offers the patient no clinical benefit. When CPR offers no benefit, you as a physician are ethically justified in withholding resuscitation. Clearly it is important to define what it means to “be of benefit.” The distinction between merely providing measurable effects (e.g. normalizing the serum potassium) and providing benefits is helpful in this deliberation.