People tried (and her husband's lawyer succeeded) to combine "not conscious" with "brain-dead" into one condition. We all are close to "not conscious" every time we go to sleep. We breathe all night long, and so did Terri. Her "night", and the state of the people described in the article at the top of this thread, just lasted for years. She was brain-damaged, but not brain-dead.
That was what was debated - like I said, no one really knows but assumes whatever side bolsters their case. Not to see she was or wasn't brain-dead - just the way this whole affair went.
Not exactly. The husbands lawyer hired a doctor by the name of Dr. Ronald Cranford who advocated the death of conscious people too. Like Robert Wendland for example.
Cranford's misdiagnose of Police Officer Mack embarrassed him so he merely raised the bar in future cases.