Nope, that's simply not true. This has been going on for many, many years. It's done at the patient's request most of the time. If not the patient, then the next of kin.
Terri just happened to have a crappy next of kin, but that will not define America for goodness sake.
You people sure are drama queens.
She also had a sociomedical infrastructure around her which was never more friendly to abominations like this, and never more shameless about flaunting itself in the open. People in general, with a few grim exceptions, always had a vague distaste to starving Grandma to death even if they persuaded themselves it was for the best. The newspapers, even the tabloids, never viewed it as a subject worthy of airing widely. That has changed; the public desensitization has now begun. This is not just a case of crappy next of kin; it's a case of crappy society.
No, I am not a drama queen. I am a drama KING and never forget it.