Ethics review: Position papers and policies – are they really helpful to front-line ICU teams?

During the past few years the ethics sections of critical care societies have proposed a number of policies describing the goals of intensive care unit (ICU) care and providing broad guidance on the diagnoses and physiological criteria that would mandate using the specialized skill and technologies of an ICU environment. Discussions on what constitutes appropriate use of such scarce resources, incorporating cultural and religious beliefs and exploring how they interact with these medical criteria, remain vague. To date, these policies do not provide any definitive guidance in the difficult decision making faced by clinicians. Some argue that they were never meant to do so and yet they have served to guide the development of local hospital policies. Many have explored how critical care services are allocated without achieving consensus on the best way to achieve fair and equitable access to life-sustaining interventions. A consensus is needed though, one that is reflective of both individual and societal values and goals. Otherwise, increasing pressure to provide treatments with marginal benefits at best will threaten the ability of others to access treatments that may offer them very real benefits.