Editing Vegetative state (section)

== Society and culture ==

===Ethics and policy===
An ongoing debate exists as to how much care, if any, patients in a persistent vegetative state should receive in health systems plagued by limited resources.  In a case before the New Jersey Superior Court, ''[[Betancourt v. Trinitas Hospital]]'', a community hospital sought a ruling that dialysis and CPR for such a patient constitutes futile care.  An American bioethicist, [[Jacob M. Appel]], argued that any money spent treating PVS patients would be better spent on other patients with a higher likelihood of recovery.<ref>{{cite web | date = 23 June 2010 | vauthors = Pope TM | work = Medical Futility Blog | url = http://medicalfutility.blogspot.com/2010/06/appel-on-betancourt.html | title = Appel on Betancourt v. Trinitas Hospital }}</ref>
The patient died naturally prior to a decision in the case, resulting in the court finding the issue [[mootness|moot]].

In 2010, British and Belgian researchers reported in an article in the ''[[New England Journal of Medicine]]'' that some patients in persistent vegetative states actually had enough consciousness to "answer" yes or no questions on [[fMRI]] scans.<ref name="alleynebeckford" /> However, it is unclear whether the fact that portions of the patients' brains light up on [[fMRI]] will help these patient assume their own medical decision making.<ref name="alleynebeckford"/> Professor Geraint Rees, Director of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London, responded to the study by observing that, "As a clinician, it would be important to satisfy oneself that the individual that you are communicating with is competent to make those decisions. At the moment it is premature to conclude that the individual able to answer 5 out of 6 yes/no questions is fully conscious like you or I."<ref name="alleynebeckford"/> In contrast, [[Jacob M. Appel]] of the [[Mount Sinai Hospital, New York|Mount Sinai Hospital]] told the ''Telegraph'' that this development could be a welcome step toward clarifying the wishes of such patients. Appel stated: "I see no reason why, if we are truly convinced such patients are communicating, society should not honour their wishes. In fact, as a physician, I think a compelling case can be made that doctors have an ethical obligation to assist such patients by removing treatment. I suspect that, if such individuals are indeed trapped in their bodies, they may be living in great torment and will request to have their care terminated or even active euthanasia."<ref name="alleynebeckford"/>

=== Notable cases ===
* [[Tony Bland]] – first patient in English legal history to be allowed to die
* [[Paul Brophy]] – first American to die after court authorization                                                                                                                     
* [[Sunny von Bülow]] – lived almost 28 years in a persistent vegetative state until her death
* [[Gustavo Cerati]] – Argentine singer-songwriter, composer and producer who died after four years in a chronic disorder of consciousness state
* [[Prichard Colón]] – Puerto Rican former professional boxer and gold medal winner who spent years in a vegetative state after a bout
* [[Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health|Nancy Cruzan]] – American woman involved in a landmark United States Supreme Court case
* [[Gary Dockery]] – American police officer who entered, emerged and later reentered a persistent vegetative state
* [[Eluana Englaro]] – Italian woman from Lecco who spent 17 years in a vegetative state until her death when a legal ruling authorized the removal of her feeding tube
* [[Elaine Esposito]] – American woman who was a previous record holder for having spent 37 years in a chronic disorder of consciousness state
* Lia Lee – Hmong girl who spent 26 years in a vegetative state after a seizure, and was the subject of [[The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down|a 1997 book]] by [[Anne Fadiman]]
* [[Martin Pistorius]] – South African man who is a rare example of a survivor as his state progressed to minimally conscious after 3 years, locked-in syndrome after another 4 years, and fully came out of a coma after another 5 years. He is now a web designer, developer, and author. In 2011, he wrote a book called ''Ghost Boy'', in which he describes his many years of being in a state of chronic disorder of consciousness.
* [[Annie Shapiro]] – Canadian woman who is another rare example of a survivor, as it is known that she could not think for the first 2 years of her 29 total years of being comatose. In 1992, she awakened fully recovered and lived her last 10 years peacefully. It is the longest a person has been in a coma and recovered.
* [[Haleigh Poutre]]
* [[Karen Ann Quinlan]]
* [[Terri Schiavo case|Terri Schiavo]]
* [[Aruna Shanbaug]] – Indian woman in persistent vegetative state for 42 years until her death. Owing to her case, the Supreme Court of India allowed passive [[euthanasia]] in the country.
* [[Ariel Sharon]]
* [[Chayito Valdez]]
* [[Vice Vukov]]
* [[Helga Wanglie]]
* [[Otto Warmbier]] - American college student whose parents requested his life support to be removed after being evacuated from the Pyongyang Friendship Hospital to Cincinnati in a vegetative state following an arrest during a tourist trip.