The Nature of PVS

Dawn Eden quotes Dory of Wittenberg Gate:

I heard Shep Smith on Fox News say several times this afternoon that no one has ever emerged from a persistent vegetative state. There's a good reason for that. When someone shows signs of consciousness, it is not assumed that they have emerged from PVS, it is assumed they were originally misdiagnosed.

A study cited in the above article found a 43% rate of misdiagnosis among PVS cases. There is a good discussion of the semantics of the language surrounding PVS.

There is much reason to suspect the diagnosis and the level of ongoing care in Terri Schiavo's case, as noted here and here. One must ask why Mr. Schiavo is so unwilling to revisit the diagnosis using tests which would be considered routine in cases where principle actors are not working so hard to insure the death of the subject of that diagnosis.

(Terri's Fight (hat tip Captain's Quarters) and BlogsforTerri (hat tip Wittenberg Gate) for more information.)