Negotiating the cost of dying ?

The newspapers report that a bunch of well intentioned and highly esteemed people raise the problem of the cost of epo treatment for terminal lung cancer patients. This treatment is said to cost some € 21.2 million per year, and reportedly does not change the life expectancy of the patients. They would rather have that money invested in palliative care, which is still underdeveloped in Belgium.
This message makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up : this is not a question of either / or. In my book, one does not count or compute the cost of (saving or prolonging) a life. Each patient facing death should be totally free, without any pressure, to follow his own path. "Savings" and economic "logic" should be banned from that field : if not, quite soon, a committee may decide who is to live and who is to die depending on "economic" criteria.
Respect for life and death should remain paramount. Making that happen is a central task of government and should be among its highest priorities.
Economics, economies and death ... a potentially explosive mixture and a very slippery path indeed.