"Medical Futility" - Its Narrow and Limited Proper Use

Simon and colleagues offer a colorful reminder of the narrow and limited way in which the term "futility" should be employed in the medical treatment context. 

"There is a difference between trying to fill a tub with a leaking bucket and endlessly repeating the same task to keep a leaky tub full. In the latter case, you can still bathe."

I discuss this terminology in the forthcoming 60(3)  Perspectives in Biology & Medicine.