Modern medicine and modern facilities, has permitted those that are in seriously ill health often to continue to live; in which these very ill patients because they are receiving good quality medical care, along with the medical equipment that helps to deliver such, as well as certain necessary pharmaceuticals, are able to nowadays stay alive, whereas in absence of any or most of these very things, their ability to live, previously to such, would have been very problematic. This thus signifies that modern medicine, is able to extend the lives of many individuals, though the quality of that life, for these extended lives, will vary from those that seemingly will never be able to sustain their own lives without the active assistance of medical equipment and thereby the necessary corresponding medical attention, to those that will, given enough time, with recovery and rehabilitation, in all probability, be able to be eventually self-sufficient, at some future point.
Further to the point, the medical profession, unlike those that just have a personal interest in the person so suffering from that ill health, are often able to determine to a reasonable degree, because of their expertise as well as their experience, those that are never going to be able to be self-sustainable, those that they are somewhat unsure of, and those that they are convinced have a very good chance of recovery. This signifies that the medical profession clearly is more knowledgeable about the reality of each specific situation in regards to ill patients, as opposed to those that are simply concerned family members and the like. So then, it clearly is the medical profession that truly has the knowledge as well as the means to the prudent utilization of the power of life and death in regards to very ill patients, in which that power consists of such things as the treatments and medicines provided to patients, as well as the mixture of ministrations so provided or not, and additionally the drugs so provided and the dosages thereof.
Whether the administration of treatment or lack thereof, and whether the administration of drugs, especially in regards to the dosages of those drugs and the purpose of those drugs, is classified as appropriate or not, really comes down to the salient intent of those that are making those medical decisions in regards to those treatments and drug dosages. This means, that it is critical that the medical profession does not have conflicting interests in regards to the patients that they treat, because interests that are conflicted or not clearly delineated, make for decisions that may not be, and probably will not be, in the best interests to those patients and those that are there with them.
All of this really signifies that when it comes to very ill patients, that each of those patients, must be the captain of their own fate, to the degree that this is possible. That is to say, the primary purpose of the medical profession, is to, to the extent that it is reasonably possible, facilitate the return to good health to their patients, and when that is not possible, to provide then the care and treatment that minimizes unnecessary pain and suffering, thereby maintaining for each patient, their inherent dignity. So then, it is thereby hoped that the decisions so made, for these ill patients, are always done with the intent to do right by those patients, by those that are experts within the medical profession.