Did the Hippocratic physician treat hopeless cases?

The question of whether the Hippocratic physician treated hopeless cases is discussed, and the pertinent passages of the Corpus Hippocraticum dealing with the matter are reviewed. Only one passage (Diseases I, IV) unequivocally advocates treatment when the disease is fatal; all the others, in which hopeless cases are considered, indicate that the physician should not treat or should not treat if possible. The author underlines that, in ancient medicine, the non-treatment of hopeless cases was common and refers to pertinent passages in the Sushruta Samhita, the Caraka Samhita, and the Smith Papyrus. The conclusion is that the Hippocratic physician did not treat hopeless cases, and that such an approach was not only consonant with the paradigms of ancient medicine but of contemporary medicine as well. The contemporary attitude toward the treatment of hopeless cases and the concept of "supportive treatment" and "palliative therapy" is discussed.