A person in the so called vegetative state shows no
signs of self-awareness and seems unable to interact with others or react to
specific stimuli. The permanent vegetative state is defined by the continuation
of the vegetative state signs and symptoms for over a year. Even Drs. Jennett
and Plum in their original 1972 article “Persistent Vegetative State After Brain
Damage-A Syndrome in Search of a Name” [el30]
admitted that “Patients…may survive indefinitely.” They coined the term
‘vegetative state’ stating that to vegetate means “to live merely a physical
life, devoid of intellect” and noted that these matters “can seldom be settled
beyond doubt at the bedside”. In fact, in a more recent 1996 retrospective
study, “Misdiagnosis of the vegetative state” which was done in a rehabilitation
unit, there was a 43% misdiagnosis of the vegetative state.[el31]
Most patients misdiagnosed were blind or had severe visual impairment along with
their severe physical disability but were able to communicate-some at a high
level.
Pope John Paul II in his address “Life-Sustaining
Treatments And Vegetative State: Scientific Advances And Ethical Dilemmas"(Link)
(
www) given before the International Congress called to discuss the
vegetative state made clear the moral boundaries surrounding the treatment of
these persons, especially concerning the “morally obligatory” need for the
“ordinary and proportionate” use of food and hydration. He called the “cessation
or interruption” of “nutrition and hydration” “euthanasia by omission”; the
“deliberate and morally unacceptable killing of a human being”. “The
administration of water and food, even when provided by artificial means”
(feeding tubes have been around and used often since the mid 1800s!) “always
represents a natural means of preserving life, not a medical act.” “Its use
should be considered, in principle, ordinary and proportionate, and as such
morally obligatory.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church states
“Even if death is thought imminent, the ordinary care owed to a sick person cannot be
legitimately interrupted.” [rs33, #2279]
(www)
Living Wills that allow for the withholding or withdrawal of nutrition and hydration for such conditions as dementia, coma, or
the persistent vegetative state are not morally supportable.
The Pope concluded his address with a plea to the
medical profession, “I exhort you…for the dignity of the medical profession, to
guard jealously the principle according to which the true task of medicine is
‘to cure if possible, always care’”. He mentioned that the term ‘vegetative’
when applied to the sick had the effect of “demeaning their value and personal
dignity.” “The intrinsic value and personal dignity of every human being do not
change….no matter the circumstances of his or her life.” “A man….is and always
will be a man, and he will never become a ‘vegetable’ or an ‘animal’.
Note: See Reference Pages (Vegetative State) on this subject to view specific references cited above.