There is controversy over what is considered "futile" treatment, not just between parents and doctors, but also among doctors.

Some doctors say they have simply stopped futile treatment, without telling a patient's family or over a family's objections.

Doctors there knew how bleak the prognosis was and how difficult - and probably futile - the treatment would be.

To the Editor: A Sept. 24 news article reports that managed care patients at the end of life might be better off because prolonged, costly and "futile" treatments are withheld.

As a result, they said, it would be better to declare these patients dead at the scene rather than subject them to dehumanizing, costly and ultimately futile treatment at a hospital.

By reading the skin's signals correctly, physicians can sometimes obtain early clues to serious physical ailments or help patients avoid futile treatment for emotionally triggered skin problems.

THERE are many reasons why seriously ill patients choose to forgo intensive care, including the desire to avoid futile treatment and to die surrounded by loved ones rather than machines.

And it is the doctors who, despite the financial penalties their actions incur, often ask for ethics committee help in terminating futile treatment.

And, he added, they simply wanted families to have a fundamental choice in rejecting "futile" medical treatment that had "no positive good" prolonging the life of a terminally ill person.

And, they added, the doctors may contribute to patients' making bad choices, including seeking aggressive but futile treatments.