Is It Always Wrong to Perform Futile CPR?

Although there is currently much debate about the types of care to which patients are entitled, one thing on which everyone can agree is that nonbeneficial care should be eliminated. Although such care can be hard to define, in some circumstances experienced clinicians can be virtually certain that attempts at resuscitation will fail. In these cases, many argue that hospitals should adopt policies that allow physicians to refuse when families demand futile cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).Several years ago, I cared for a 2-year-old boy who had been born with a large frontal encephalocele. He survived surgical excision but was left . . .