Medical Futility and Muslims

I recently blogged here about a recent article in HEC Forum by Colleen Gallagher at M.D. Anderson.  She has another article in Clinical Research & Bioethics (free access), a journal for which I review (though not this particular article).  

Gallagher reviews over 1000 ethics consults at MD Anderson, finding that 18% concerned medical futility.  In the course of the four-page article, the authors twice mention that patients who are Muslims typically represent 5% of the patients seen in ethics consultations.  But in the case of medical futility questions, this figure doubles.  This is of particular note given the ongoing Rasouli case in Canada.  

Also of note is Gallagher's observation that most patients died within one to two weeks of the involvement of the Clinical Ethics Service, 56% within five days of the initial request for ethics consultation.  This illustrates how formal dispute resolution mechanisms, which are slow and cumbersome, would not be useful for most disputes.