Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Futile veterinary care for pets in the U.S. is widespread, study finds

Something to ponder about! About 50% or more of all U.S. households have an animal companion (Source).

"When faced with terminal illness in their pets, some owners would do anything to prolong their lives.
More than 99% of 474 veterinarians surveyed said they’d encountered useless or nonbeneficial veterinary care in their careers, according to a new Cornell-led study that documents the prevalence of futile care for the first time. ...
The study, co-authored by researchers at Harvard Medical School’s Center for Bioethics, also found that 89% of veterinarians said they had administered futile care, and 42% said it occurs frequently, more than six times per year. ..."

From the abstract:
"OBJECTIVE
To document veterinarians’ perceptions and understanding of medical futility and determine the frequency with which medical futility occurs in small animal practice.
SAMPLE
477 veterinarians in small animal general and specialty veterinary practice.
PROCEDURES
A cross-sectional study was performed with a 25-question, web-based, confidential, anonymous survey distributed through various professional veterinary specialty associations.
RESULTS
Nearly all respondents (469/474 [99.0%]) believed that futile care occurs in veterinary medicine, and 42.4% (201/474) felt it occurred commonly (> 6 times/y). A similar percentage (471/475 [99.2%]) reported encountering futile care within their careers, and 85.0% (402/476) reported encountering it within the past year. A majority (293/477 [61.4%]) reported witnessing futile care occurring in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Most respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed (320/463 [69.1%]) with a statement that providing futile care is always wrong, and only 38 (8.2%) agreed or strongly agreed. Over 70% (329/464 [70.9%]) of respondents agreed that there are situations in which provision of futile care is appropriate.
CLINICAL RELEVANCE
The importance of reaching a consensus definition for medical futility in veterinary medicine is evident given the frequency with which such care is being provided. Most small animal specialist veterinarians will encounter futile care, and the establishment of an ethical framework to navigate questions surrounding medical futility may help reduce moral distress."

Futile veterinary care is widespread, study finds | Cornell Chronicle

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