It was a test case, and that is the big flaw in the strategy of those who use the “Unlike Terri this patient can improve.” This line has become quite common, I’ve heard doctors use it in a quite choreographed manner in a continuing ed session.
Perhaps they "use[ed] it in a quite choreographed manner" because they all knew it to be true?
Or perhaps they don't know what they are talking about. That would be the most likely possibility since none of them ever examined Terri Schiavo.