Technology Review headline: “Brain Imaging Lets Vegetative Patient Communicate.” Certainly there are some patients thought to be “brain dead” but who are, in fact, conscious and that have been euthanized. There are also pro-life concerns about people in PVS being killed in order to harvest their organs. (See a pair of Dr. John Shea articles here and here.) Such brain imaging is not inexpensive, but certainly worth the cost to ensure families that loved ones are not offed prematurely. Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition has some thoughts on the new study.
In December, The Interim reported on a Belgian man who awoke from nearly a quarter century of supposed unconsciousness. Presumably, this brain imaging might have caught the fact that he was indeed conscious.
