On August 13, 2010, the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey declined to rule in the matter of Betancourt v Trinitas Hospital,1 a case that raised questions about the limits of medicine in patients with advanced illness. In declining to rule, the judges wrote that resolving such issues in “the context of overheated rhetoric in the battlefield of active litigation” would not positively contribute to the policy debate around medical futility. These comments raise important questions about whether there is a role for the courts in helping to shape the boundaries of medical practice near the end of life.