First Thursday Club: Futile Treatment and the case of Dr Charlie Teo

Futile treatment is the continued provision of medical care to a patient where there is no reasonable hope of cure or benefit.

A health care provider has both a legal and ethical duty not to knowingly provide a person with treatment that is futile.

In the recent hearing before the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission, Professional Standards Committee, allegations were made against Dr Charlie Teo that other experts believed the surgeries at the centre of the complaints were futile and of no benefit. He was accused of providing people with false hope where in reality, their position might be described as hopeless from a medical point of view.

Join us for our next edition of BN's First Thursday Club, where Rob Samut will consider and discuss:

• What is futile treatment?
• Withholding and withdrawing treatment that is considered to be futile
• Ethical dilemmas and legal exposures
• Denying parental requests for futile treatment
• When does treatment for cancer become futile
• The case of Dr Charlie Teo