I think physicians should have to power to safe a life and ease suffering. What patients do with their own lives, is their choice. But the goal of a physician should never be to kill.
I think if Hippocrates were alive now and witnessed how medicine has changed his Hippocratic Oath would have modifications.
Imagine he saw a typical ICU patient today:
Hippocrates: "What is this tube in the patients mouth?"
Birdstrike: "Oh father of medicine...that is a breathing tube. The patient's lungs do not work so we use a machine to do his breathing."
Hippocrates: "A machine? What is a machine? Uh.....and what is this hard device in his chest wall?"
Birdstrike: "Oh great father of medicine....you once espoused do no harm. When this patient had a fluttering, non-functional heart due to daily illicit drug use for 6 years, all the great minds of this hospital convened and decided that there would be more harm if we let this guy die...so we put a metallic machine in his chest that will fix his fluttering heart."
Hippocrates: "Another machine? What is a MACHINE? And...Uh...what are these bulging veins in his arm for? And why are there more tubes coming out of them?"
Birdstrike: "Oh grand father of medicine...and you just might be a superlative father. We adore you and have memorized your speeches too. When this patients heart stopped working...his kidneys stopped working as well. But we have this great machine that can replace his kidneys! All he has to do is hook up to his machine 3 times a week for 3 hours and detoxify. He can't live without it, but as long as he complies with treatment he can live a few more years."
Hippocrates: "HEY! WHAT IS A F*&ING MACHINE? Hey! Wait a minute....why does this guy have another machine on the side of his back and a tube coming out above his bellybutton?"
Birdstrike: "Oh you will love this my beloved Doctor. We literally implemented your oath and found a way to feed this patient! You see...with a dysfunctional, gastroparetic stomach he couldn't eat that well. And now he has a tube in his mouth to breath. So we hook him up to a machine and feed him twice a day directly into his stomach! And that other machine on the side of his body stimulates his stomach to contract. You see...his stomach is dead and needs a little coaxing to live."
Hippocrates: "ARE YOU F*&CKING with me? This guy is hooked up to 5 machines and you won't even tell me what a machine is. So his lungs, heart, stomach, esophagus, and kidneys don't work. Interesting this guy doesn't have any toes either. Was he born that way? Or were they chopped off?"
Birdstrike: "Dr. Hippocrates. We decided to prolong his life by amputating his fetid, ghoulish, pus-ridden toes."
Hippocrates: "Dear Zeus that sounds horrible and probably smelled disgusting. Well surely you are giving him medicine to help ease his suffering, right?"
Birdstrike: "My dearest of dear beloved Doctor, you are my hero. I have provided him with 24 medicines to help prolong his life. He just might make it. Have you heard of fentanyl, midazolam, norepinephrine, vasopressin, vancomycin, meropenem, sodium chloride 0.9%, heparin gtt, pantoprazole, albuterol, ipratropium, carvedilol, digoxin, insulin gtt, colac....."
Hippocrates: "STOP! You lost me at phantomol. I never heard of any of these herbs. Surely he can at least pop a stiffy on his own?"
Birdstrike: "Oh....there is one more machine for that...."
I can't imagine Hippocrates 100% endorsing everything we do in today's world as a means to help people. If he had to write the oath today I think it would be different.