Actually it is not irrelevant. The reason this is true is because in most states there is a law stating that a person with PVS is considered terminal and therefore an ideal candidate for being dehydrated to death.
The problem with the diagnosis is that it cannot be made from a test of any kind, but is a highly subjective diagnosis. In past court cases similar to this one, patients who used wheelchairs were diagnosed with PVS and sentenced to be killed by a court, as they are killing Terri.
"The British study is one of the largest and most comprehensive investigations on PVS to date. Its findings are similar to an earlier U.S. study which found that, of the PVS patients who were referred to the Healthcare Rehabilitation Center in Austin, Texas, 38% were not vegetative at all and actually responded to stimuli upon subsequent examination."
"All 17 misdiagnosed patients were found to range in cognitive ability from level 5 (aware but severely impaired) to level 8 (nearly normal) on the Rancho Los Amigos scale. [BMJ, 7/6/96]
In a BMJ editorial, Minneapolis neurologist Ronald Cranford pointed out that the quality of life of the 17 misdiagnosed patients was still questionable. "I would speculate," Cranford wrote, "that most people would find this condition far more horrifying than the vegetative state itself, and some might think it an even stronger reason for stopping treatment" (i.e., food and fluids)."
Both PVS and feeding tubes are being used as tools for killing the costly disabled in our society. Many of those killed with a diagnosis of PVS was eating and drinking to some extent on their own, but was put on a feeding tube anyway.
Currently there is a new wave of extensive publications about the terrible "dangers" of feeding tubes. It is almost amusing to see. After 100 years, suddenly the use of these tubes is a great peril to patients.
I will guarantee you that in a short time, feeding tubes will become almost non-existent. I have already listened to physicians explaining to the spouse of a disabled person how a feeding tube would be a dangerous choice.
post 100, was=were
I believe you have misunderstood me. It is irrelevant to this thread IMHO, simply because of the comparisons to the Nazis. I was not calling into question the legitimacy of the diagnosis either way. I do believe that more visibility and study are required as there have certainly been cases where full or partial recovery of these kinds of maladies have been effected. But even so, a person may not wish to go through it all. In any case, those who, on this forum, have thrown up red herrings such as comparisons to Hitler and Jesus Christ are doing more damage than good to the causes they espouse.
Again, I do not question your references at all. They appear well founded.