re: and one more perspective
Working with medical technology, I have seen it's explosive growth - and the associated explosive costs. Modern medicine can keep people alive - concious or not, with the potential to eventually recover or not - in many extreme situations. And so choices must be made. Does a society spend huge amounts of money on such technolgies, or should the available money be spent on other things - vaccination programs, perhaps, or programs to help prevent substance abuse, or to educate children, or....
A choice between what CAN be done and what SHOULD be done.
Almost every hospital in developed countries has the capability of keeping more people alive, longer - but those choices are made, and some die as a result.