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	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Although we applaud Curtis et al¹ for bringing data along with opinions to the futility debate, we are concerned about the way they have misrepresented our position on medical futility. The authors present a scenario in which a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) with a prognosis of less than 3 months to live is admitted to the hospital with severe pneumonia. The patient is having difficulty breathing without the ventilator, but the physician considers withholding mechanical ventilation because the patient would be "very unlikely to get off the life support machine alive."¹ The authors consider this an example of medical futility.

By citing us, the authors apparently believe we would agree. But, in fact, this is the very kind of abuse of medical futility we oppose.^{2, 3, 4} As McGee et al⁵ point out in their editorial, the prognosis is simply too uncertain at this point. A patient might very reasonably . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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