The FDA announced today that it approved a drug for treatment of late-stage pancreatic cancer.  Most people who have pancreatic cancer live six months after the diagnosis.  The newly-approved drug extends this time by 1.8 months.  The drug costs $8000 a month.

What is an additional 54 days of life worth, when you know you are delaying the inevitable by such a short time?  Will the 54 days be quality days or feel-bad days?  If you were in this position, would you ask for the drug, no matter what it costs or who is paying for it?

It is unfair for me to pose such a question without venturing my own answer: I would decline to take the drug.  If there is something I haven’t managed to do in the six-plus decades I’ve walked on this planet, then maybe it doesn’t deserve to be done during the final 1.8 shitty-feeling months of my life.  Instead of spending money on some drug later, what about spending it on a rewarding experience now?

Sha-la, la-la-la-la, live for today.