Comment by jmward01

The ethics of life and death are murky at best. When is it acceptable? 6 months to live? 1 year to live? 5 years? What is the cut point? The answer is, there isn't a clear answer. Yes, that is a cop out, but it is also true. I agree with allowing people of sound mind to make informed healthcare decisions towards the end of their lives that involve high risk. but I would be wary of weakening the process too much. We should have a push-back because people in these positions are exceptionally vulnerable and therefore easy to take advantage of and, even worse, likely to be unable to defend against abuse for very long. Weakening this process would likely lead to drug companies doing what they always do, abuse their position for money. Why even go to expensive traditional trials? Just give some promising, cherry picked, results in a press release and now people are coming to you signing every waiver and paying their last penny to live next to the trial that will kill them because the drug wasn't even close to ready. I would likely feel very different if I was near death, but that is the point isn't it? Again, I'm not saying this shouldn't be an option. I just think it needs a lot of scrutiny and a high level of skepticism.