A 65-year old American oncologist, Ezekiel Emanuel, has recently said that he will refuse all forms of medical treatment after age 75, even antibiotics. His reasoning is that any extension of life achieved is likely to be of poor quality, and that a bout of pneumonia (with palliative care) is probably the kindest way to go, both for the person and for their family.
I'm 66, and, as I know I carry an Alzheimer's gene (not a guarantee of dementia but people on my mother's side of the family have tended to develop the disease in their eighties), this certainly resonates. Maybe not antibiotics, but I'm pretty sure I'll refuse late life cancer treatment or any major surgery. I know of a severely demented woman having a pacemaker implanted at the age of 92. What?!! Needless to say she was dead within months.
What do other Gransnetters think?
