Abstract
When the House of Lords ruled that Tony Bland should be allowed to die, most of us believed that he was practically dead already. Tony was a tragic victim of the Hillsborough disaster. He was in a persistent vegetative state (PVS), which meant that he seemed to be awake with his eyes open but had no level of awareness. The only reason he remained alive was because he was artificially fed. We were assured there could be no mistake about the diagnosis and no hope of recovery. This Monday's Horizon programme Living Death undermined those assurances, telling us that persistent vegetative state is an unreliable diagnosis. It claimed that some patients, far from being awake but unaware of their environment, may have been misdiagnosed and may be aware and thinking inside their paralysed bodies. There are estimated …
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
