81. The Invention Of Persistent Vegetative State persistent vegetative state; A SYNDROME IN SEARCH OF A NAME, OR A JUDGEMENT IN SEARCH OF Andrews, K., 1993, Patients in the persistent vegetative state; http://home.vicnet.net.au/~borth/PVSPLUM.HTM

PERSISTENT VEGETATIVE STATE; A SYNDROME IN SEARCH OF A NAME, OR A JUDGEMENT IN SEARCH OF A SYNDROME? Chris Borthwick It is a term that has been widely used since, and the mantraps and spring guns that were built into the definition at the outset are still dangerous. Definitions decided on at the outset have channelled the debate ever since, and are still influential. It is important to re-examine the first steps in this area to see why that course was adopted then and why it is still directing us now. Jennet and Plum noted in 1972 that new methods of treatment were permitting the survival of patients with devastating brain damage resulting from such insults as head trauma, brainstem stroke, or hypoxia - conditions that would previously have resulted in rapid death. They saw this situation as creating a need for a new term. A situation, however, is not necessarily the same thing as a condition, and the situation could have been given a name that did not bring it within the medical diagnostic framework. The contribution of Jennet and Plum was to ensure that the ìconditions that were formerly fatalî were henceforward to be in practical terms one condition, or one state, and not many. The defintion was a response to a perceived need for simplicity.

82. Persistent Vegetative State/Permanent Vegetatative State Almost all medical ethicists discussing postcoma survivalhave been guilty of pernicious oversimplification of the medical backgroundto their ideas. http://home.vicnet.net.au/~borth/PVS.htm

Persistent Vegetative State/Permanent Vegetative State Chris Borthwick may be contacted on cborthwick@vicnet.net.au He would be very interested to hear from anybody else studying the socioethics of PVS. Almost all medical ethicists discussing post-coma survival have been guilty of pernicious oversimplification of the medical background to their ideas. This oversimplification emerges clearly from any close reading of work on this topic. I have examined different aspects of this issue in articles for a number of journals in this area. PERSISTENT VEGETATIVE STATE; A SYNDROME IN SEARCH OF A NAME, OR A JUDGEMENT IN SEARCH OF A SYNDROME? ABSTRACT This paper is reprinted with thanks to the Monash Bioethics Review , where it first appeared (1995, April, 14, 2, 20-26) THE PROOF OF THE VEGETABLE; A COMMENTARY ON ETHICAL FUTILITY ABSTRACT This paper is reprinted with thanks to the Journal of Medical Ethics , where it first appeared (1995, August - 21 (4), 205-8) . THE PERMANENT VEGETATIVE STATE; ETHICAL CRUX, MEDICAL FICTION? ABSTRACT In 1994 a Multi-Society Task Force made up of representatives of the American Academy of Neurology, the Child Neurology Society, the American Neurological Association, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, and the American Academy of Pediatrics produced a Consensus Statement on the Medical Aspects of the Persistent Vegetative State (PVS). This Statement presents a picture of the degree of diagnostic certainty achievable in this area that is in many respects misleading. Its attempt to propose a condition called Permanent Vegetative State, which would be based on a high degree of medical certainty either that there is no further hope for recovery of consciousness or that, if consciousness were recovered, the patient would be left severely disabled, confuses two different issues.

83. CBS News | Vegetative State Gives False Hope | March 29, 2005 15:00:05 But in Schiavo s condition, described as a persistent vegetative state, That s because in a persistent vegetative state, the brain centers that control http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/22/health/main682190.shtml

SEARCH: CBSNews.com The Web document.write('') Home U.S. World Politics ... FREE CBS News Video ET The Early Show CBS Evening News 48 Hours 60 Minutes ... Section Front E-mail This Story Printable Version Vegetative State Gives False Hope NEW YORK, March 22, 2005 Judge Denies Schiavo Request Terri Schiavo is shown here in a video taken at her Florida hospice. (Photo: CBS) "There's a normal tendency of family members to interpret (random) movements as evidence of awareness." Dr. James Bernat Interactives: Legal Timeline Reactions To Death Photo Essay Feeding Tube Facts ... Brain Disorders Videos: Video Archive Stories: Tears, Anger At Hospice A Short, Sad Life Political Fallout Living Wills In Spotlight ... Poll: Don't Reinsert Tube Documents: Judge Whittemore Ruling 2 Statement Of Interest Judge Whittemore Ruling 1 (AP) In the family video played over and over on TV, Terri Schiavo seems to gaze fondly at her mother, with the hint of a smile. On Sunday night, as Congress took up debate on her case, her father told reporters that she responded to his teasing by making a face at him. "It tells us she's still with us," he said. But in Schiavo's condition, described as a persistent vegetative state, family members can be deceived by things like eye movements and reflexes, experts say.

84. Persistent Vegetative State persistent vegetative state Focal Brain Injury one localized area of brain Contrecoup Brain Injury damage to the persistent vegetative state brain is http://www.cartsandhandtrucks.com/brain/persistent-vegetative-state/

persistent vegetative state Subject Brain Injury Description Traumatic Brain Injury Information Category Disabilities traumatic brain injury persistent vegetative state Focal Brain Injury: one localized area of brain damage Diffuse Brain Injury: multiple areas of brain damage Contrecoup Brain Injury: damage to the persistent vegetative state brain is in the opposite region from the insult (example: blow occurring to the frontal lobe with such a force that it shifts the persistent vegetative state brain backwards and damages the occipital lobe) . Depending on severity, a person with TBI can experience changes in physiology, cognition and behavior persistent vegetative state and may include the following: * Changes in blood pressure, pulse, respiratory rate and/or temperature * Hemiplegia, unusual reflexes, and or flaccidity persistent vegetative state * Aphasia, dysarthria, dysphagia, and/or visiuospatial and perceptual motor difficulties * Uncontrolled anger, irritability, memory loss, shortened attention, difficulty problem solving, decreased initiation, lack persistent vegetative state of reasoning, and/or inappropriate social behavior Brain injury may affect vision in many ways. Below are some of the most common visual problems associated with persistent vegetative state stroke and traumatic brain injury. Loss of Visual Field: A common visual effect of brain injury is the loss of one’s visual field or persistent vegetative state our ability to see to the side. There are many types of visual field losses that can occur, but the most common form is a persistent vegetative state homonymous hemianopsia or loss of half of the field of vision in each eye. If the posterior portion of the brain is damaged on one persistent vegetative state side of the brain, a loss of visual field occurs to the opposite side in both eyes. Patients often mistakenly believe the loss is just persistent vegetative state in one eye.

85. New Patriot: Congress In A Persistent Vegetative State Congress in a persistent vegetative state Bad news March Madness A victory for balanced transportation Who the Hell is Robert Fitzgerald? http://newpatriot.org/2005/03/congress-in-persistent-vegetative.html

@import url("http://www.blogger.com/css/blog_controls.css"); @import url("http://www.blogger.com/dyn-css/authorization.css?blogID=7825653"); @import url(http://www.blogger.com/css/navbar/main.css); @import url(http://www.blogger.com/css/navbar/2.css); BlogThis! Congress in a persistent vegetative state Is there a more cynical play than the sights and sounds of this Republican congress reaching their dirty fingers into the hospital room of Terry Schiavo? What can they be thinking? From what bladder to they get their unmitigated gall? ABC News released the GOP talking points relating to the Schiavo case yesterday. Points 3 and 4: This is an important moral issue and the pro-life base will be excited that the Senate is debating this important issue. This is a great political issue, because Senator Nelson of Florida has already refused to become a co-sponsor and this is a tough issue for Democrats. Charming. Leave it to the Republicans to use a woman whose brain is literally liquid as poster-girl for their ridiculous social agenda. Can you imagine? They actually proposed issuing a subpoena for Mrs. Schiavo to appear before them. That would have been rich. Bill Frist and Denny Hastert asking Terry Shiavo to follow the balloon. Perhaps they should subpoena all patients in a persistent vegetative state. Then at least one side of the conversation would make sense. And then there's Bush.

86. FIRST-PERSON: 'Persistent Vegetative State' Is Often Confusing - (BP) BPNews.Net Baptist Press News of the Southern Baptist Convention. Headlines, news and feature stories. http://www.baptistpress.org/bpnews.asp?ID=19909

87. Mayo Clinic Neurologist Says Terri's "Persistent Vegetative State" A "Misdiagnos Mayo Clinic Neurologist Says Terri s persistent vegetative state a In fact, I question the validity of the concept of persistent vegetative state http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/mar/05032404.html

Canadian National Pro-Life Conference Nov. 17-19 Montreal CLC National News for September August Interim Newspaper  Internet Censorship: Is It Possible? How soon? ... Financially propping up ‘gay pride’ Politics International What Can I Do? Educational Information News Partners Culture Features Crisis Pregnancy Support Free Daily E-News Subscribe Friends New on ... Site Map Thursday March 24, 2005 Printer friendly version Email to a friend Mayo Clinic Neurologist Says Terri's "Persistent Vegetative State" a "Misdiagnosis" Christian Medical Association: "Death by dehydration is a cruel, inhumane . . ." WASHINGTON, March 24, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - An expert from the famed Mayo Clinic and the head of the Christian Medical Association today questioned the diagnosis of Terri Schiavo as one of a persistent vegetative state. Dr. Wm Cheshire of the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, spent one hour in Terri's room observing her and also watched the full set of the exam videos of Terri. He has concluded that Terri has been misdiagnosed and is not in a Persistent Vegetative State (PVS), but instead is in a minimally conscious state. Christian Medical Association head, Dr. David Stevens, added, "I, like many Americans who have seen the videos of her interacting with her parents, also question the PVS diagnosis. In fact, I question the validity of the concept of Persistent Vegetative State diagnosis. It is pejorative because it labels a person as being a vegetable taking away their humanity. It is also impossible to establish this diagnosis. Some patients who have come out of PVS have stated that their mind was in a prison but they knew what was going on around them."

88. Outside The Beltway : Links On Schiavo And Persistent Vegetative State Links on Schiavo and persistent vegetative state And the nature of the vegetative state itself can be cruelly misleading. http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/9742

HOME ABOUT CONTACT XML FEED ... Main Tuesday, March 22, 2005 Links on Schiavo and Persistent Vegetative State Posted by James Joyner at 12:37 Below are links to some excellent resources for helping understand the medical and legal issues involved in the Terri Schiavo case. Most if not all of this has been seen before but judging from the level of the debate surrounding the case, people are still operating from serious misunderstanding of the facts. Florida appelate lawyer Matt Conigliaro has an excellent timeline of the events in Terri Schiavo's case, links to the transcripts of every court decision during the process, and a lengthy discussion of the frequently asked questions. Steven Taylor has extensive excerpts from the report filed by Jay Wolfson, DrPH, JD, who was appointed Guardian Ad Litem for Terri Schiavo by Governor Jeb Bush in 2003. What's especially instructive is his findings as to the actions of Michael Schiavo: Proceedings concluded that there was no basis for the removal of Michael as Guardian Further, it was determined that he had been very aggressive and attentive in his care of Theresa. His demanding concern for her well being and meticulous care by the nursing home earned him the characterization by the administrator as “a nursing home administrator’s nightmare”. It is notable that through more than thirteen years after Theresa’s collapse, she has never had a bedsore. By 1994, Michael’s attitude and perspective about Theresa’s condition changed. During the previous four years, he had insistently held to the premise that Theresa could recover and the evidence is incontrovertible that he gave his heart and soul to her treatment and care. This was in the face of consistent medical reports indicating that there was little or no likelihood for her improvement.

89. The Talent Show: Is Florida A Persistent Vegetative State? Is Florida A persistent vegetative state? found everyone quite appalled with exception of the wingnut who denies TS is in persistent vegetative state. http://www.thetalentshow.org/archives/001700.html

Home About "Brother..." Archives ... Contact March 21, 2005 Is Florida A Persistent Vegetative State? Dahlia Lithwick has a devastating takedown of the Congressional cretins who stepped into the Terri Schiavo case : This morning's decision by Congress and President Bush?to authorize new federal legislation that will obliterate years of state court litigation, and justify re-inserting a feeding tube into Terri Schiavo, based on new and illusory federal constitutional claims?is not about law. It is congressional activism, plain and simple; legislative overreaching and hubris taken to absurd extremes. Members of Congress have apparently also had super-analytical powers conferred upon them, as well. senate Majority Leader, and heart surgeon , Bill Frist felt confident last week?after reviewing an hour of videotape?in offering a medical diagnosis of Schiavo's condition, blithely second-guessing the court-appointed neurologists who evaluated her for days and weeks. His colleagues are similarly self-appointed neurological experts. Years of painstaking litigation, assessment, and evaluation by state courts are dismissed by Tom DeLay as the activist doings of a "little judge sitting in a state district court in Florida." Only the most extraordinary levels of congressional hubris could allow a group of elected citizens to substitute their personal medical, legal, and ethical judgments for those of the doctors, judges, and guardians who have been intimately involved with this heartbreakingly sad case for years.

90. Dave Daubenmire -- Can The Church Awaken From Her Persistent Vegetative State? Are Christians in a persistent vegetative state? In 1994 a MultiSociety Task Force produced a Consensus Statement on the Medical Aspects of the Persistent http://www.newswithviews.com/Daubenmire/dave5.htm

Additional Titles Other Daubenmire Articles: Churches Are Spreading Mad Cow Disease The Deluded Christian Church ... Articles: CAN THE CHURCH AWAKEN FROM HER PERSISTENT VEGETATIVE STATE? Coach Dave Daubenmire April 11, 2005 NewsWithViews.com John 11:44 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. The starvation of Terri Schiavo reminded me of Jesus and His raising of Lazarus from the dead. In the grave for four days, Jesus was able to breathe life back into the dormant body of Lazarus. He was raised from the grave, but Lazarus still wasn’t free He was born again, but bound. Alive, but looking dead. Isn’t that a picture of modern Christianity? Is there hope for America? Can Jesus, as He did with Lazarus, breathe new life into an old body? Is it too late to awaken the church from its slumber?

91. The Waterglass: Living In A Persistent Vegetative State: Does Terri Schiavo Feel So just as a person in a persistent vegetative state can t experience pain For example, a patient in persistent vegetative state will grasp your hand. http://www.thewaterglass.net/archives/001088.html

...still at fifty percent. Main March 30, 2005 Living in a Persistent Vegetative State: Does Terri Schiavo Feel Pain? CNN has a link to an article about whether people in persistent vegetative states feel pain: "Patients in a persistent vegetative state like Terri Schiavo are a subgroup who suffer severe anoxic brain injury and progress to a state of wakefulness without awareness...Patients in a persistent vegetative state do not feel pain, nor do they "suffer," says Michael De Georgia, MD, head of the neurology-neurosurgery intensive care unit at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation here. Pain, as well as suffering, requires consciousness, which is lacking in a person in a persistent vegetative state, says Dr. De Georgia. "Certainly these patients don't suffer," he adds. "Suffering is really that whole emotional aspect of pain: fear, anxiety, panic surrounding pain. You have to have consciousness to experience these emotions. So just as a person in a persistent vegetative state can't experience pain because of a lack of consciousness, they also don't suffer." Why do people say that Terri Schiavo knows what's going on?

92. Www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2971-2003O Different River » Misdiagnosis of persistent vegetative stateMisdiagnosis of persistent vegetative state. Filed under. Medicine/Health Politics Law Life Issues. — Different River @ 240 pm http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2971-2003Oct22.html

93. Different River » Yet Another Recovery From Persistent Vegetative State Yet Another Recovery from persistent vegetative state. Filed under. Medicine/Health Politics Law Life Issues. — Different River @ 105 am http://differentriver.com/archives/2005/03/23/yet-another-recovery-from-persiste

@import url( http://www.differentriver.com/wp-layout.css ); Different River ''You can never step in the same river twice.'' Heraclitus Main Page Previous: Medical Hypocrisy: Is Terri suffering? March 23, 2005 Yet Another Recovery from Persistent Vegetative State Filed under: Medicine/Health Politics Law Life Issues has surfaced. You can guess what they think of the starvation order. We have video footage of Kim from 1993 when she was in the midst of her very intensive, daily therapies. If you could see the footage, which has been broadcasted on the news by WGAL-8 and Fox-43, you would be eerily amazed at how similar Kim was to Terri Schiavo. She certainly remembers the long and extremely difficult road to her recovery. She is grateful to have had the chance for such a recovery. She knows that had it not been for the daily occupational, physical and speech therapies in which she was provided that she would not be the woman that she is today. While she physically challenged and in a wheelchair to this day, she has a happy life. She enjoys many activities like scrap booking, going to the theatre and spending time with friends and family. Kim and her family will appear on TV tomorrow on Comcast MidAtlantic.

94. THE PERSISTENT VEGETATIVE STATE AND THE WITHDRAWAL OF NUTRITION AND HYDRATION The persistent vegetative state may be defined loosely as a condition in which Chief Justice WH Rehnquist used the term persistent vegetative state to http://www.bethel.edu/~rakrob/files/PVS.html

THE PERSISTENT VEGETATIVE STATE AND THE WITHDRAWAL OF NUTRITION AND HYDRATION JETS 35/3 (September 1992) 389-405 Robert V. Rakestraw In recent discussions of euthanasia, coma, and the withdrawal of artificially supplied nutrition and fluids, considerable confusion exists where these topics intersect with the condition known as persistent vegetative state (PVS). For example the terms "PVS" and "coma" are sometimes erroneously used interchangeably, especially by the popular media. Further, regarding the withdrawal of food and water from PVS individuals, some opponents of the practice wrongly allege the intention to kill (aiming at death) on the part of all who allow the practice. Such withdrawal is sometimes incorrectly viewed as euthanasia and is grouped indiscriminately with the deliberate termination of the lives of conscious yet severely disabled persons. The case of Nancy Cruzan—the first "right to die" case to reach the United States Supreme Court—brought the matter of the PVS before the public and the evangelical world with a special urgency. The case of Cruzan v. Director of Missouri Department of Health

95. Removing Feeding Tubes From Patients In A Persistent Vegetative State FindLaw for Legal Professionals is a free resource for attorneys that includes online case law, free state codes, free federal codes, free legal forms, http://library.findlaw.com/1999/Jun/1/127052.html

//For Jeff's Modules. var what="LNCAI"; var uri=document.location; FindLaw For the Public For Business For Corporate Counsel ... Legal MarketCenter Research a Lawyer Use the Thomson Legal Record to access a lawyer's litigation record, articles and more! Search by Name Search by Experience Search FindLaw FindLaw Articles News Commentary Browse Resources Law Firm Articles Case Summaries Legal Careers Legal MarketCenter ... More... My current location: city Change Location FindLaw Library Removing Feeding Tubes from Patients in a Persistent Vegetative State By Law Office Of Kenneth I. Kolpan, P.C. With advances in the medical treatment of patients with traumatic brain injury, health care providers are seeing increased numbers of head-injured patients surviving accidents that they would have previously died from. Rehabilitation modalities specifically designed to treat head injuries, the use of pulmonary therapies, aggressive use of antibiotics, and improved nursing care are responsible for extending the long-term survival of this population. Consequently, there are now more patients in a chronic, persistent vegetative state who are surviving longer. As patients live in this condition sometimes described as "worse than-death," families, physicians, and attorneys debate society's obligation to provide them with life-sustaining treatment. The debate inevitably ends up in the courtroom. Earlier cases established the principle that an incompetent patient has the same right as a competent patient to accept or reject medical treatment. These cases involved such treatments as chemotherapy, dialysis, respiration, and the issue of life-saving treatments. Each of these cases involved invasive treatments that had side effects. Now courts are being asked to extend the incompetent patient's right of self-determination to less invasive treatments such as artificial feeding. In other words, where the courts previously acknowledged an incompetent patient's right to refuse intrusive life-sustaining treatments, courts are being asked to extend this right to the removal of feeding tubes. (This is the position taken by the Massachusetts Medical Society in a recently adopted policy.)

96. THE MERCK MANUAL, Sec. 14, Ch. 170, Stupor And Coma persistent vegetative state is most common after severe head injury or global Adults in a persistent vegetative state have about a 50% likelihood of http://www.merck.com/mrkshared/mmanual/section14/chapter170/170a.jsp

97. David E's Fablog: An Even MORE Persistent Vegetative State An Even MORE persistent vegetative state was not in a persistent vegetative state, their lawyer, David Gibbs III, said after Thogmartin s report. http://fablog.ehrensteinland.com/archives/000180.shtml

David E's Fablog Sing Out Louise! Main June 15, 2005 An Even MORE Persistent Vegetative State Well the results are in from Terri Schaivo's autopsy , and frankly it doesn't look good for either gravedigger-come-lately Joan Didion , or "renowned heart surgeon" (and even more renowned cat killer) Bill Frist, who back in March took time off from his duties as Senate Majority Leader to examine a video confected by the woman's parents and challenge medical authorities who had declared Mrs. Schaivo to be little more than a wilted Ficus "I question it based on a review of the video footage which I spent an hour or so looking at last night in my office," he said in a lengthy speech in which he quoted medical texts and standards. "She certainly seems to respond to visual stimuli." But as we now learn, Frist, Didion, the Schindlers (Terri's parents and brother), Randall Terry, Jesse Jackson the Bush Administration, both houses of Congress and the Catholic Church were, uh. . . mistaken Not that mere truth has ever stood in the way of anyone who refused to dealwith it: Regardless of the autopsy findings, the Schindlers continue to believe their daughter was not in a persistent vegetative state, their lawyer, David Gibbs III, said after Thogmartin's report. He said they plan to discuss the autopsy with other medical experts and may take some unspecified legal action.

98. Persistent Vegetative State (PVS) - Alexander Harris Solicitors PVS occurs when a person has lost all cognitive neurological function. A person with PVS may be able to breathe (if the lower part of the brain is still http://alexanderharris.co.uk/page/Persistent_Vegetative_State_PVS_202.asp

Alexander Harris Solicitors Home Our Work Persistent Vegetative State (PVS) Jump to navigation PVS occurs when a person has lost all cognitive neurological function. A person with PVS may be able to breathe (if the lower part of the brain is still functioning) but has no control over speech, movement and thought. It is also thought that they have no awareness of their surroundings. Patients are unable to swallow and receive assisted feeding through artificial tubes. If you require brain injury legal advice, please complete the online enquiry form. Your enquiry will be forwarded to a specialist brain injury solicitor. If you believe that you might have a legal claim relating to Persistent Vegetative State (PVS) , please complete the online enquiry form . Your enquiry will be forwarded to a solicitor who specialises in Persistent Vegetative State (PVS) . If you have any comments in relation to Persistent Vegetative State (PVS) , please use the online discussion forum I would recommend Alexander Harris because they provide a very good service: Stephanie, Cheshire

99. She Recovered From A Persistent Vegetative State persistent vegetative state www.foxnews.com She was in a vegetative state after suffering a stroke. For almost 70 days, she was totally unresponsive. http://www.rense.com/general44/vege.htm

Rense.com She Recovered From A Persistent Vegetative State www.foxnews.com This is a partial transcript from The O'Reilly Factor, November 5, 2003 BILL O'REILLY, HOST: In the Back of the Book segment tonight, the parents of Terri Schiavo are hoping for a miracle. Their daughter has been in a vegetative state for 13 years, as you know. Ms. Schiavo's husband wants her to die, and so do many in the State of Florida. But listen to this. In 1995, Kate Adamson was in a similar position. She was in a vegetative state after suffering a stroke. For almost 70 days, she was totally unresponsive. Doctors finally pulled her feeding tube. And, for eight days, she was dying. Then Ms. Adamson began responding on her own. Doctors quickly put the feeding tube back in, and she recovered. Joining us now from Los Angeles is Kate Adamson and her husband, Steven Klugman. Ms. Adamson has written a book called Kate's Journey: Triumph Over Adversity. So, in the Schiavo case, Ms. Adamson, you must have very strong feelings about that. KATE ADAMSON, AUTHOR, KATE'S JOURNEY: TRIUMPH OVER ADVERSITY: Yes, I do. I have a huge prospective on what Terri is going through.

100. What Is A Persistent Vegetative State? | GrabTheMic Time article that explains what a persistent vegetative state is in common terms. WHAT IS A persistent vegetative state? People who suffer enough brain http://www.grabthemic.org/community/node/15621

@import "misc/drupal.css"; @import "themes/friendselectric/style.css"; GrabTheMic Giving a Voice to the People User login Username: Password: Create new account Request new password Navigation recent posts Who's new dapinto Mark lurker angel dillinger Home blogs What is a Persistent Vegetative State? Chip Gibbons points us in the direction of a new Time article that explains what a persistent vegetative state is in common terms: WHAT IS A PERSISTENT VEGETATIVE STATE? People who suffer enough brain damage that they are unaware of themselves or their surroundings, but still demonstrate certain reflexes and are able to breathe and pump blood on their own, are in what doctors call a vegetative state. If that condition lasts for at least a month without any sign of improvement, the diagnosis may be changed to persistent vegetative state (PVS). WHY DOES TERRI SCHIAVO OPEN HER EYES, BLINK AND APPEAR TO SMILE IN THE VIDEO HER PARENTS MADE? The most difficult thing to understand about a vegetative state is that it allows one to be awake but not aware. (In a coma, you are unresponsive and your eyes are closed.) Because the sleep-wake cycle and certain eye movements are not controlled by the cortex or the thalamus, they can continue without conscious awareness. Even acts of crying and smiling may be reflexive events that do not occur in response to specific stimuli. This is a real eye opener, especially when you are bombarded statements that Terri Schiavo is responsive or even smiling at times. More people should do their homework before making arguments - it would save a lot of time and grief.

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