100-Year-Old Babies

A main aspect of technology advancement that I have always very strongly believed in is the development of new drugs and treatments for illnesses and diseases. I think that this generation and all the generations that will follow have a major advantage in terms of medicines, medical care, and overall knowledge that previous generations did not have. Is it scary that a child born in 2009 has a life expectancy of 100 years? Some would say this is a miraculous achievement, others however might not share the same enthusiasm.
The technological advancement of medicine is a very heated topic, as different opinions can start to become contentious when issues such as religion, human rights, and money emerge. Perviously, my opinion on technology was that it can only help us, although when I began to think more and more about it on different levels many possible problems came to mind. Many people that are in critical conditions are living on life support, i thought, and this is great that they can survive thanks to major evolution of medical treatments, however when I brought this up with my mother, who has been an oncologist, obstetrician, and surgeon for the past 16 years, she said something that turned my thoughts around. I was talking about life support and how amazing it is that we have it, but she said that she knows more people who would turn down the option of living off life support if they were ever faced with the choice. "Eventually people reach a certain stage of their life where they feel as though they wont be losing anything more". Also, life support can be incredibly expensive, which made me wonder if many people who are not as lucky as others are willing to sacrifice their own life in order to prevent their families from being put under financial pressure. And does this make it wrong for people to want to survive off life support even if money is tight? Also, should age be an issue? And for those who can't have a say, should others be eligible to be their voice? On a more broad scale, the development of drugs has escalated into a multi-million dollar industry, and further development costs have risen profoundly. A recent article in the New York Times opened my eyes to the world of pharmaceutical drug costs, numbers I never expected to see in the area of drug research. Not only billions of dollars, but also substantial amounts of time are necessary for further research. Based off my personal beliefs , I think that every penny and second spent is worth it, but I'm sure others would have a different say on this. It would be so interesting to find out people's opinions and to hear their rationale for their outlook.