Reply #16: Perhaps it's not as stark as you think it is

[Warpy]

If these drugs extend life but don't offer a cure, by how much is life extended? How is that life extended, which means what kind of side effects do these drugs have? In other words, are they extending life or prolonging death?

These are the kinds of questions medical people have to ask all the time and it's why a normally functioning "death panel" routinely denies things like heart transplants to patients over 80 years old. They might survive the surgery, but they'll be far worse off than before it. They might get a little time, but that time will be spent sick and quite probably with post surgical dementia.

Cost isn't the only factor in deciding whether or not new treatments are approved or old treatments are applied.