Medical Futility: Islamic Bioethics Perspectives

With increasing medical costs and proliferation of medical technology, an intense debate about the futility of certain types of treatments and medical intervention has arisen. Should doctors do everything within their capacity including attempting treatments that have low probability of achieving the goals of medical treatment? What are the criteria for a treatment to be considered futile and who decides? A clear definition of futility remains elusive and its concept is still hugely debated within the field of medical ethics. This is a result of the complexity and evolving nature of modern medicine, in addition to various other factors, e.g., the effect of the treatment on the length and quality of life, financial costs and emotional burdens and the probability of success. Additionally, determining who has the right to decide on withholding or continuing Life-Sustaining Treatments (LSTs) complicates the issue further. In order to decide if it is ethical to refrain from providing medical treatments in end-of-life situations, it is important to evaluate clinical data alongside patient’s values and the physician’s moral commitments. This study aims to analyze the discussions on medical futility within the secular and Islamic bioethics discourses. This is done by examining the deliberations surrounding the ethical dilemmas raised by End-Of-Life decision making in secular bioethics. In the Islamic bioethics discourse, the concept of futility and the issue of who should decide will be explored through the fatwas or religious advice issued by Muslim religious scholars. This will enable us to evaluate if there are any gaps, similarities or differences between how the concept is approached in both discourses and provide a contribution to this emerging domain in the field of bioethics in general and Islamic bioethics in particular.