Hi, MOrtMan.
I'm trying to find out whether experts recommended the probes be removed as well; I don't know for fact that it was recommended.
Just as a side note, I'm not trying to persuade anybody. I couldn't do that because I don't even have a strong feeling about what is right or wrong to do in this case.
What I don't like to see are continuous mis-representations by various freepers and have tried, along with a host of other freepers, to make sure that we aren't like DU in spreading lies.
"I'm trying to find out whether experts recommended the probes be removed as well; I don't know for fact that it was recommended."
(I'm with you on the non-persuasion one way or the other.)
I've look for a bit of info on "brain death" and PVS and found some links below.
My sense is the CT-scan that was performed is used often times as a tool for PVS diagnosis and some indicate much more accurate than MRI. This is not to say that an MRI can't be used also.
While the reading in the links below is lengthy, it is informative, explains how the brain functions and explains who she might have eye movement, make noise etc. yet be in a PVS. (The lower brain functions are specific and different from the upper brain.) In a nutshell, the lights on but nobody is home. The first link provides this tidbit of info...
"Many patients emerge from a vegetative state within a few weeks, but those who do not recover within 30 days are said to be in a Quick Facts about: persistent vegetative state
The chances of recovery depend on the extent of injury to the brain and the patient's age, with younger patients having a better chance of recovery than older patients.
Generally adults have a 50 percent chance and children a 60 percent chance of recovering consciousness from a PVS within the first 6 months. After a year, the chances that a PVS patient will regain consciousness are very low and most patients who do recover consciousness experience significant disability.
The longer a patient is in a PVS, the more severe the resulting disabilities will be. Rehabilitation can contribute to recovery, but many patients never progress to the point of being able to take care of themselves."
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/encyclopedia/T/Tr/Traumatic_brain_injury.htm
http://hydranencephaly.com/drshewmonsarticle.htm
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/tbi/detail_tbi.htm