Making longevity in an aging society: Linking technology, policy and ethics

An explosion in the varieties of life-extending medical interventions for older persons is The U.S. and European populations are aging, and trends in health care delivery to older individuals are both a source and consequence of that demographic development. In the context of the growing use of potentially life-extending interventions, even for the very old and those near death, two questions emerge: How do we know and 'live' old age today? What does it mean to be old in a time of high-tech medical interventions? This essay illustrates the socio-medical-ethical pressures for clinical interventions in U.S. society, in which prevention of death is a highly valued social good. An explosion in the varieties of life-extending interventions for older persons is re-shaping medical knowledge and societal expectations about 'normal' old age, longevity and the time for death, perhaps especially in the U.S. There is no doubt tha