Clearly, we need to somehow become better at figuring out who is still lucid inside an unresponsive body, and who is actually “gone” with a body that is then just a meat machine with nobody home.
The decisions about what to do about those things are not uncomplicated.
The body that begins to decay and progressively is a pretty good indicator.
We’ve been told for years that doctors can determine the answer to that question.
But cases like this one show us they can’t.
I’ve been losing confidence in science (medicine, high technology, meteorology, etc.) for some time now because of its blunders. And my skepticism has grown as I’ve seen it co-opted in service of greed, political power, atheistic ideologies, and so on.
Advancements in MRI technology using contrast (MRA) to show activity in the brain is increasingly being used. Families have to demand it before the Neurologist (the Doctor that declares "brain death") declares the patient "brain dead."
Went through this with my younger brother in August 2012 when he had a massive aneurysm at the point where the brain stem connects to the brain. His aneurysm was genetic in nature, meaning my older sister, my youngest brother and I received immediate MRI/MRA's to determine if we were walking time-bomb's ourselves.
I wouldn't wish the experience we went through on anyone. Those who haven't been through it really have no business criticizing others for the decisions they had to make.