C. Lee Parmley

About the author: C. Lee Parmley is an associate professor of anesthesiology and critical care and chairman of the department of critical care at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Modern medical technology is keeping patients alive who would have normally died in the past. This situation has given rise to many complex ethical and legal issues. One issue involves the inability of doctors and family members to agree on a definition of "futility"; all concerned must agree when medical treatment appears to be futile before ceasing it, but it is not always clear what constitutes a futile situation. Consequently, using futility as a measure of when to end life is problematic. Disagreements often arise, such as when a physician believes a patient's recovery is hopeless...