However, if there is any doubt about the best way to proceed, then treatments that prolong life should be continued. One common guide is to look for the patient's 'best interest'. This can help when treating young children, or adults who are not fully conscious. In the past, best interest was almost always seen as prolonging life. However, a more complex assess-ment is needed now that medical technology can keep a person's body alive, perhaps inappropriately.
Most people accept that there is no absolute duty to prolong life at all costs.
Consequently it is in the best interests of the patient to stop treatment before it becomes excessively burdensome. However it is important to remember that one of the things that makes human beings special is their ability to form relationships and in particular their ability to form a relationship with God. A test of 'best interest' could potentially ignore the fact that a severely injured person might not be able to relate to others, but God still relates to him. Some doctors and lawyers argue that a treatment has a double effect. Pain-killing drugs given to cancer patients relieve suffering, but on occasions they also accelerate their death.