Do-Not-Resuscitate Orders and Medical Futility A Report by the National Ethics Committee of the Veterans Health Administration December 2000 National Center for Ethics Veterans Health Administration Department of Veterans Affairs.n 1995 the Veterans Health Administration National Ethics Committee (NEC) issued a report entitled Futility Guidelines: A Resource for Decisions about Withholding and Withdrawing Treatment. This report did not, however, comment specifically on how futility might apply to DNR orders.