RT Journal
A1 White DB, Pope TM
T1 THe courts, futility, and the ends of medicine
JF JAMA
JO JAMA
YR 2012
FD January 11
VO 307
IS 2
SP 151
OP 152
DO 10.1001/jama.2011.1990
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2011.1990
AB 
On August 13, 2010, the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey declined to rule in the matter of Betancourt v Trinitas Hospital,1 a case that raised questions about the limits of medicine in patients with advanced illness. In declining to rule, the judges wrote that resolving such issues in “the context of overheated rhetoric in the battlefield of active litigation” would not positively contribute to the policy debate around medical futility. These comments raise important questions about whether there is a role for the courts in helping to shape the boundaries of medical practice near the end of life.