Despite the potential harm to patients (and others) and the financial cost of providing futile treatment at the end of life, this practice occurs. This article reports on empirical research undertaken in Queensland that explores doctors' perceptions about the law that governs futile treatment at...

Objective: Futile treatment, which by definition cannot benefit a patient, is undesirable. This research investigated why doctors believe that treatment which they consider to be futile is sometimes provided at the end of a patient's life.Design: Semi‐structured in‐depth interviews.Setting:...

Objective(s): To describe how doctors define and use the terms “futility” and “futile treatment” in end-of-life care.Design, Setting, Participants: A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with 96 doctors across a range of specialties who treat adults at the end of life....

Clinicians, ethicists and lawyers have long debated the parameters of triage in response to the inevitable disasters that sporadically overwhelm the health care system. Almost universally, they have advocated for open, transparent and consultative triage protocols, guidelines and legislation to...

Background: Voluntary assisted dying became lawful in Victoria, the first Australian state to permit this practice, in 2019 via the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 (Vic). While conscientious objection by individual health professionals is protected by the Victorian legislation, objections by...

This article examines the law in Australia and New Zealand that governs the withholding and withdrawal of ‘futile’ life-sustaining treatment. Although doctors have both civil and criminal law duties to treat patients, those general duties do not require the provision of treatment that is...

The International Conference on End of Life: Law, Ethics, Policy and Practice was held at Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia in August 2014. It was co-hosted by the Australian Centre for Health Law Research, the Dalhousie Health Law Institute (Canada) and the Tsinghua...

Within Australia, there have been many attempts to pass voluntary euthanasia (VE) or physician-assisted suicide (PAS) legislation. From 16 June 1993 until the date of writing, 51 Bills have been introduced into Australian parliaments dealing with legalising VE or PAS. Despite these numerous...

Background: A Resuscitation Plan is a medically authorised order to use or withhold resuscitation interventions. Absence of appropriate resuscitation orders exposes patients to the risk of invasive medical interventions that may be of questionable benefit depending on individual...

Background: Assisted dying (AD) is increasingly becoming lawful internationally. While all AD models have oversight mechanisms, Victoria, Australia is rare in requiring formal approval before AD is permitted. Other jurisdictions are now enacting or implementing prospective approval models yet...