Belated Happy Birthday (and good luck with the case) Uncle Ian!
I'm a 20something PPL(H) and although I have no current plans to go commercial, I may want the option in the future and if I do, I want to be able to fly so long as I can pass a medical and flight tests, regardless of age. So, I've joined the 411 who have so far signed the petition at the time of writing.
The recent death of Neville Duke (aged 85, who reportedly collapsed just after landing as he left his aircraft and died some hours later) reminded me of an airline pilot I know of, who died suddenly just before a flight, not long after a medical, and it made me think...
A medical only really represents your state of health at the time it's done. So what's the decreasing interval between medicals with age based on, and how valid is the whole thing? Is there enough scientific understanding of potential indicators, or is it that people are just statistically more likely to die the older they get?