Each new technology that serves to keep patients alive when they would have died "naturally" puts more stress on the medical judgment element of medical care. It also increases the chance that the doctor will have to determine the benefit to his patient for more and more invasive treatment. Some patients and families may demand that he act against his judgment.
Carried to the extreme, the doctor could become the slave of any family - unable to withdraw from the care of a patient for months or years, forced to change IV's and IV settings, to maintain and adjust the ventilator and dialysis settings, or even to maintain the heart-lung assistance device that slows cell death, even after the heart has died.
More discussion at my blog, LifeEthics
This case did not entail withdrawal of care - the demand was for increasing treatments and invasive procedures.
Drowsy and combative do not go hand in hand. In my heart, I'm opposed to euthanasia, and so this statement jumps out at me, as coming from someone who is just a little too eager for a reason to let the woman die.
This is why it’s so important to have a living will or some document spelling out your wishes. Personally, if I am ever diagnosed with Alzheimer’s I’m going to make it clear that I do not wish to have a feeding tube. I would much rather meet my maker than spend my last few months living as this person did.
I’ve had the experience of watching several loved ones die - from cancer, AIDs and dementia - and while it’s never easy to say good-bye I don’t believe extending their eventual passing would have been beneficial. Fortunately in each case the person had enough time and foreknowledge to tell us their wishes which made it some what easier.