Patient in Persistent Vegetative State Shows Ability to Respond to Questions
Feb 8th, 2010 • Posted in: NewsCase raises troubling ethical questions about how and whether to consult severely disabled patients about their care, according to report
LONDON
Researchers in Britain and Belgium, using a newly developed brain-scan technique, have discovered that some patients in vegetative states show signs of awareness, and in one case, could answer yes/no questions.
That patient, according to TIME magazine, had been in a vegetative state for more than five years.
According to the New York Times, scientists say the findings could raise troubling ethical questions about how and whether to consult severely disabled patients about their care.
The study involved tests on 54 patients who had been comatose with severe brain injuries, reports the Irish Times. Five of the patients were able to modulate their brain activities in a way that was perceptible to the scanner and interpreted as a response by the examiners.
Writing in London’s Daily Telegraph, neuroscientist Colin Blakemore speculated on the ethical implications of the advancing science of brain scanning: “We need to think now about the broader implications of the new neuro-technology. Not just because it might impinge on our privacy, on evidence in the courtroom or on shaping products to our preferences; but because it will challenge our fundamental understanding of ourselves.”
“Astronomy, from Copernicus on, has transformed our view of the place of the earth in the heavens. Darwin changed forever our view of the status of humanity. Neuroscience is likely to challenge our very understanding of what it is to be a person,” Blakemore continued.
Sources: Irish Times, Feb. 5 — Telegraph, Feb. 5 — TIME, Feb. 4 — New York Times, Feb. 3.
For more information, see: Related Newsline story, June 1, 2009 — Related Newsline story, Apr. 7, 2008 — Related Newsline story, Mar. 17, 2008 — Related Newsline story, Mar. 10, 2008 — Related Newsline story, Feb. 12, 2007.
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In the past experiences autism facilitators sold the idea of assisting autistic patients to express themselves. Independent research revealed the facilitators were doing all the expressing. So, skepticism questions: are these researchers only seeing something they want to see?
However, assuming these iare true results. It does raise the concerns for how to measure the competency of the responses. There are patients deem mentally incompetent who can respond with yes or no. Also, as demonstrated in courtroom with “hostile witnesses”, questions requiring only “yes or no” responses can be contrived to get the desired results. So, who polices the questioning of comatose patients to eliminate any bias (if that is possible)?