Awarenss in PVS patients

The Star Tribune recently published a story that reported that scientists had recently found that the brains some patients in vegetative states show a few sparks of awareness. While the article does state that such responsiveness is rare and makes quick reference to the infamous “Terri Schiavo Case”, saying that awareness is not possible in those who have suffered severe oxygen depletion, it does not present even basic definitions for the terms used in the article, such how persistent vegetative state differs from coma. Thus, it can easily lead to its readers interpreting the findings incorrectly and give false hope to those with loved ones diagnosed and being in a persistent vegetative state.

Letter:


I was pleased to see the article “Brainwaves” on the paper’s website, but am concerned that it did not do enough to explain the medical condition to which it was referring. To those who are unfamiliar with how the term “persistent vegetative state” is defined by the medical community, PVS may easily be confused with other conditions such as coma. This could create confusion regarding the ethical dilemma as mentioned in the article regarding whether or not a patient in a persistent vegetative state whose brain patterns suggest they want to die should be taken off of life support.

While coma is defined by the lack of both wakefulness and awareness due to irrevocable brain damage, those in persistent vegetative states have awoken from a coma, but have not regained awareness and are extremely unlikely of ever doing so. Thus, those five patients mentioned in the article who have shown signs of some awareness are, by definition, not in a persistent vegetative state and therefore do not meet the legal requirement to be taken off of life support in the United States. Thus, this question should not be considered substantially different from the morality of assisted suicide.