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The state of medical technology is such that ill or injured hospital patients can be unable to see, hear, communicate, read, walk, groom, or dress, but yet be considered alive because their hearts are still beating

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The state of medical technology is such that ill or injured hospital patients can be unable to see, hear, communicate, read, walk, groom, or dress, but yet be considered alive because their hearts are still beating. They may be kept alive through feeding tubes and heart and lung machines. Sometimes extraordinary efforts are made to resuscitate such patients when coronary failures occur. This problem has ethical, legal, and cost considerations. What might a cost-effectiveness analysis suggest about emergency resuscitations for patients who have been kept alive through feeding tubes but with no chance of returning to health or communicating with others? Think about psychological costs and benefits, opportunity costs, and alternative services to other ill patients as you think through your answer.