NEJM comments on Texas "futile care"

The New England Journal of Medicine has a “Perspective” article commenting on the Emilio Gonzales case in Austin, Texas It’s available free online, and there’s an audio interview with the author.

The comments are very specific on the ethics of the case, and the author does a good job of outlining the Texas Advance Directive law, the various reasons given by the doctors who refuse to carry out the surrogates’ wishes in these sorts of cases, and some of the objections to the ethics committees that decide whether or not the doctor’s refusal to follow the surrogate’s wishes is ethically appropriate. There’s also a link to another free article that details findings about the “burnout” of ICU nurses.