‘Futile treatment’ common in ICUs: study

By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – More than one in ten patients being treated in intensive care units (ICUs) was at some point receiving what doctors deemed to be futile care, in a new study. In those cases, critical care doctors believed people would never survive outside an ICU or that the burdens of their care “grossly outweighed” any benefits. And, researchers found, treating each of those patients cost about $4,000 every day. “Many physicians find that the provision of futile care is not only contradictory to their professional responsibility, but harmful to patients,” Dr. …