Clinical pragmatism, ethics consultation, and the elderly patient.

This article describes a process of moral problem solving for medicine termed clinical pragmatism. A structured and disciplined method of addressing ethical problems in medical practice that clinicians will find useful in their daily routines is provided. After outlining the method of clinical pragmatism, the authors illustrate its use in a case involving an older patient refusing medical treatment and conclude with comments on the importance of the process in ethics case consultation.