Drugs, medicine, money and life expectancy

I was watching a 28 year old version of Scrubs the other day. In it, one of the new interns was remarking about how he didn't expect that working in a hospital would be "like this" meaning mostly old people, often in and out of demetia, treating old people problems. The attending physician tells him the advances in medicine are allowing people to live much longer than they should have. 

When I was younger I used to smoke cigarettes. Everyone would tell me all their matter of factly statistics like "you know it shortens your life expectancy by an average of 12 years?" Which my response would be "you mean 12 years off the end of my life. That old age you spend popping pills (not the good kind either) and hoping today's the day your shit comes out solid? I'm okay with that." 

Why do we need to put band aids on our own mortality? Are we afraid of dying or are we doing it because some marketing genius at every pharmaceutical company has convinced us that senior citizens today are living active healthy lives today. Some are sure. But then why do we corral them into retirement communities and pidgeon hole them in the category or "senior citizens" instead of just "citizens" or "family?" The there are the others who are living miserably and in pain. Some bodies give out before their minds and some minds give out long before their bodies. 

I have soul searched this a lot. I don't want to live any longer than my body, mind, or poor lifestyle choices allow. Especially when it only serves to line the pockets of some pharmaceutical company or terminal care facility. Although quitting smoking and drugs and alcohol (mostly by comparison to my younger years anyway) has made my mid-life easier and more prolific, I wonder where I'd be if I hadn't caved in to my momentary need for immortality. It seems life was much more fun when I got to choose the drugs I took based on want, not need.