Bioethical principles and care-based ethics in medical futility

The process for solving ethical, legal, and moral dilemmas in the field of medicine is complex and time consuming. Frequently, the constraint of time forces the healthcare professional to make decisions quickly. When working with the cancer population, one faces, additionally, the dilemma of medical futility. Guidelines from the bioethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, nonmalificence, and justice help to address this dilemma. The use of care-based ethics allows healthcare professionals to establish trust, thus enabling patients and their families to be open to change and make realistic decisions. This article contrasts care-based ethical theory with justice-based ethical theory, using a case presentation to illustrate the importance of care-based ethics in making a moral decision to forgo medically futile treatment.