Many of the expensive drugs prescribed are more appropriate for younger patients with earlier stages of the disease, argued study author Dr. Cathy Bradley of the University of Colorado Cancer Center.

"This research found that there is a trend for elderly late-stage colorectal cancer patients to receive newer, more expensive drugs," she said, according to HealthDay. "However, in spite of their receiving more drugs, no (significant) survival benefit was observed."

The median elderly patient who was prescribed such high levels of medication appeared to live one month longer, as a result.

And what do the patients go through to get that extra month of life? Bradley explained:

"Common toxicities associated with newer therapies include diarrhea, dehydration, bowel wall injury, hemorrhage, wound-healing complications, and GI perforation.”

Increasingly, health advocates are urging doctors to speak frankly with patients about how they want to spend their remaining days before authorizing aggressive medical interventions. Some argue that part of the problem is not just patients who lack information about what decisions to make, but doctors who have been trained to prolong life under every circumstance.