The reseachers have to have yardsticks to determine whether or not a treatment is efficacious. This sometime spills over and people like to play with numbers. You are absolutely right, unless you are terminal and must take care of things, there is no reason to speculate on a persons potential date of death. Life is a terminal illness - no one gets out alive. If you don't stay in the "now" the future will drive you crazy. What a disservice that doctor did to your neighbor -what an insensitive jerk. Doctors like that have to make you feel good about malpractice lawsuits...