> Why are we even spending resources figuring out how to extend the lives of people who have smoked a pack a day, for 30 years, and are currently in old age? A

> Why are we even spending resources figuring out how to extend the lives of people who have smoked a pack a day, for 30 years, and are currently in old age? Are those people really that old? Imagine if you started smoking at 13 (which is pretty common). If you smoked for 30 years, now you're 43. If you potentially live to ~80, you've barely passed the half way mark. Not only that but someone at 43 is likely still working and paying taxes, so they are putting money into the system and could potentially be doing that for another 20ish years.