[MarMema]

Quinlan lived for 9 years after her ventilator was disconnected. Bioethicists needed another a solution for disabled people. In 1983, Daniel Callahan noted that "a denial of nutrition may...become the only effective way to make certain that a large number of biologically tenacious people actually die"

"Terri Schiavo is a trial run for the future imploding of Social Security and Medicare. The coming rationing of services was the reason I went to court in 1992 against the prohibition of the private contract. Though it is difficult financially for many to bow out of the system, it may be necessary to do so in the near future to maintain our honor and our values. The shades of the Hegelian Rational Utility are upon us, just as I predicted in my speeches years ago. The rush to judgment despite so many ambiguities was fueled by euthanasia advocates' thirst for a precedent."

the new face of medicaid
"Seniors and the disabled are pushing the program to the breaking point"

[MarMema]

We have therefore two cases with similar presentation (anoxic brain damage) and with similar clinical features (persistent vegetative state). Although pathological examination in both cases confirmed severe anoxic damage, there are significant differences not only in the degree of damage but also in the main site of damage. Although our understanding of cerebral function is quite extensive, with mapping at the functional level of the motor and sensory cortex and a fairly sophisticated understanding of some of the processing that occurs in both the retina and visual cortex, there are also vast areas of the brain (the so called silent areas) where we have very little understanding of their function. The experience of neurosurgeons regularly reveals how, in some cases of trauma and tumours, large areas of the brain can be removed and yet there is good post operative functional recovery. Conversely slight damage to other small areas of the brain can have devastating clinical effects.

"The authors of the article describing Karen Quinlan's pathological findings draw attention to the limitations of our understanding of the neuroanatomical basis for human consciousness. At one time consciousness was though to reside in the cortex, then came our understanding of the limbic system and the role of the brain stem reticular formation in cerebral arousal. The findings in Karen Quinlan's brain suggested that the thalamus played a more crucial role in consciousness and awareness than was previously thought."