Posted on 11/20/2006 1:49:59 PM PST by presidio9
A judge has rejected a family's plea that a 53-year-old woman in a vegetative state should be allowed to die.
He has ordered instead that she should be given a drug that could wake her up.
Theoretically the patient could then spend the rest of her life severely disabled and aware of her condition.
Sir Mark Potter, president of the High Court Family Division, says the woman should be given zolpidem, a common sleeping pill.
It has been used before on victims of severe brain damage who have then regained consciousness.
The woman, who cannot be named, suffered a massive brain haemorrhage on holiday in August 2003 and has been diagnosed as in a persistent vegetative state.
Sir Mark ruled that doctors should try giving her the drug before a final decision has to be made on whether to stop giving her food and water artificially, and let her die.
His decision was supported by the Official Solicitor Laurence Oates who represents PVS patients when their families seek permission to allow them to die.
A spokesman said Mr Oates, who has now retired, thought the woman should be given zolpidem to test if she could 'wake up.'
He said: "It was a very difficult case, but Mr Oates believed that before anyone is allowed to die every test possible should be carried out."
Sir Mark is believed to have also heard evidence from experts who look after severely brain-damaged patients.
It is the first time a ruling has been made to keep a PVS patient alive in order to use the drug. The case follows new Government guidelines, revealed by the Daily Mail on Saturday, which tell doctors they risk being put on trial for assault if they refuse to allow patients who have made 'living wills' to die.
The Lord Chancellor told the medical profession that those who do not follow the wills could face jail or big compensation claims in the court.
In a guide to Labour's Mental Capacity Act, which comes into operation next spring, Lord Falconer said living wills must be enforced. PVS patients are described as 'awake but not aware'. Unlike patients in a coma their eyes are open but they see nothing and are not conscious of their surroundings.
They breathe normally but have no swallowing reflex and have to be kept alive by artificial feeding and hydration.
In 1993 the courts sanctioned the withdrawal of feeding from Tony Bland, a 21-year-old brain-damaged survivor of the Hillsborough football ground disaster.
The case went to the House of Lords where law lords ruled it was in his best interests to be allowed to die and said doctors could lawfully stop artificial feeding because they would not be killing him, but withdrawing treatment.
Since then the High Court has sanctioned the withdrawal of food and drink from dozens of PVS patients when doctors, families and the Official Solicitor have agreed that death was in the patient's best interests.
The case of Terri Schiavo, whose husband fought a seven-year battle in Florida before she was allowed to die last year, heightened the debate in the U.S.
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THE NEW LEASE OF LIFE DRUG Zolpidem has been used in South Africa with amazing results. One recipient is 32-year-old Miss X, who cannot be named for legal reasons. She suffered four cardiac arrests and hypoxia - a lack of oxygen to the brain - after contracting septicaemia four years ago.
Without the pill, she can barely stand, her arms are in spasm and she cannot speak, although her intelligence has not been affected. But after being given a dose of the drug she can stand up, stretch to her full height and clap her hands.
The left side of her face is no longer drooping and her eyes sparkle. She smiles broadly and can even use a keyboard to communicate with people, telling them how she now hopes to speak again.
On "House" they gave the patient a high dose of dopamine of one kind or another. I think that is different than Ambien, and is more like what they did in the movie "Awakenings". In essence you are on the right track with this being similar to what House did, just different drugs were used.
Shame on you! On this pro-life website, you are supposed to support the killing of those that you don't think have a right to live. If in doubt, just refer to this forward progressive literature. Incidentally, there isn't a nickels worth of difference between them that I can see.
.
"This genetically ill person will cost our people's community 60,000 marks over his lifetime. Citizens, that is your money."
"This genetically ill person will cost our people's community 60,000 marks over his lifetime. Citizens, that is your money."
Hi!
"Correct. But they do have things in common. Neither will recover. Both are on artificial life support. Neither has consciousness or ever will again.
And both are using valuable and precious hospital resources that can be better used to keep alive someone who has a chance at living."
PVS patients have a chance at recovery. PVS patients breath on their own, hence the only "artificial support" is water and food. PVS patients have been proved by EEG tests to have a highlevel of brain activity.
I am sincerely glad I'm not related to you and you have no chance of ever being involved in a life changing decision that would pertain to me.
Ambien has been given to PVS patients, and its administration is bringing about the return to awareness that is being described with some degree of success.
By most reports that I have seen, only 60% respond to it. The 10 % club here thinks that is to risky to take a chance on life.
BWHAHAHAHA!! Not an anarchist (although that's name calling I haven't seen before). Let's read the first line of the article shall we?
rejected a family's plea that a 53-year-old woman in a vegetative state should be allowed to die.
Whose plea was that again? Oh yes, the family's plea. So we have
A)conservatism that would state the issue should remain with the family (funny how your sort was for that when it came to Terri Schiavo) or
B)annoying people that think they know better than the family about that person's wishes. I just thank God they didn't release this woman's name. Else a whole slew of people that think they know better than the family would swarm some hospital somewhere in the world, blocking traffic, blathering incessantly to any news media that is bored enough to interview them, and creating a general nuisance for the other patients and their families in the hospital
so where do i get the living will info? does it take an attorney? does it have directions?
This is your opinion. It is not fact.
If it were fact, then patients in a PVS would never regain consciousness, but sometimes, yes, sometimes, they do. You've made a blanket statement and try to apply it to all cases.
Hello! :-)
Well, you can guess what I think about that.
But... they use guinea pigs all the time!
LOL! Zolpidem is Ambien. If you took that at work, you'd probably spend about 15 minutes sending some amazingly funny emails to ex-friends before you passed out and had some of the best sleep you've ever had.
If the pill works, she will be able to communicate. Isn't that the point?
There's always some judge who thinks he knows medicine, theology, the arts, mathematics, economics, hermeneutics, and everything else better than anyone else and is happy to abuse judicial privileges to order this and that. When judges quit wearing dresses and move up to pant suits, there will be a modicum of hope.
Evidence? Evidence. We don't need no freakin' evidence!
I've been in this position both in situations: where someone wanted to give up before I think I would have (my MIL, who was tired of repeated hospitalizations for CHF,and elected to enter hospice and forgo supportive therapy which could have kept her alive longer) and someone who wanted to go on longer that I felt he should have (my Father, dying of cancer).
In each case I attempted to the best of my ability to honor their wishes, but not everyone is able to do this, or wishes to be placed in the position where they have to make such decisions.
I've also been in a position (my FIL, dying of a series of strokes) where there was a LOT of pressure from the hospital on the family to allow procedures (in this case, a feeding tube) which ran counter to his clearly expressed wishes - it can be very, very tough to stand you ground in such circumstances(we did).
So a living will, durable power of attorney for health care or a "do not resuscitate" order are only as effective as you and your dedicated decision makers are able to make them.
Nedd to get that word "vegetative" out of that diagnosis. It's a loaded word.
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