Title	Three Patients [electronic resource] : International Perspective on Intensive Care at the End of Life / edited by David Crippen, Jack K. Kilcullen, David F. Kelly
Imprint	Boston, MA : Springer US : Imprint: Springer, 2002
Connect to	http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0939-4
Descript	XIX, 278 p. online resource

This volume explores how the scarce resources of intensive care units should be distributed. Three hypothetical patients, each with a different chance of survival, desire intensive care. A multinational panel of experienced critical care physicians offers assessments of the patients' conditions and outlines approaches to treatment. These approaches are then examined by academic medical experts and a medical ethicist, as well as from a legal perspective. The result is a well-rounded and introspective look at care for critically ill patients at or near the end of life

Overview -- Medical Futility in American Health Care -- Multinational Perspective on Treatment of the Three Patients -- Description of the Cases -- South Africa -- Australia -- United Kingdom -- India -- New Zealand -- The Netherlands -- Russia -- Hong Kong -- Israel -- Canada -- Urban United States -- Summaries of Medical Comments -- Patient A -- Is Treatment Worthwhile? -- Globalization of Critical Care -- A Multilevel Examination of a Critically I11 Patient -- Patient B -- The Decision-Making Process -- Should Patient B Receive Critical Care? -- The Yin and Yang of Critical Care: Utilitarianism Meets the Law of Supply and Demand -- Patient C -- Treatment of a โ{128}{156}Classicโ{128}{157} Intensive Care Unit Patient -- Should This Patient Be Admitted to a Critical Care Unit? -- Multiple Organ Failure and Intensive Care -- General Multidisciplinary Survey -- Discussion of the Medical Aspects of Futility -- Discussion of the Ethical Aspects of Futility -- Waiting for the Cavalry: The Role of the Courts in Recognizing Medical Futility -- Comments From Paramedical Providers -- End-of-Life Care in the Intensive Care Unit -- Advanced Medical Technology and End of Life: A Respiratory Care Practitionerโ{128}{153}s Perspective -- Medical Futility -- Afterword