Terry Schiavo case - how can she respond?

Factual Questions
41

EEG tests and CT scans have already been mentioned; does anyone know if a SPECT or PET scan has been performed? These tests are used to determine which parts of the brain are metabolizing a radioactive-labeled compound, and it occurred to me while watching the news that it might be useful in this case. I’m not sure how often these tests are used in medicine – I know they’re used in research, which is more my field. I’m not even sure that they would be useful, but it did occur to me as a way of determining whether there is any brain activity, particularly in the areas of the brain that would be needed to formulate responses to questions. On the other hand, PET results are fairly easy to manipulate, and it would be possible to generate an image that made it look like a normal amount of brain activity was occurring even if there was actually none by setting the threshold of detection very low and not showing a normal brain for comparison.

Emotional as the video tapes are, they don’t say anything about brain activity or the chance of rehabilitation. I saw a few, including the balloon video, and I presume that they were the most favorable clips since they were being shown on Fox News. Only the techniques for measuring brain activity and observing the brain’s physical structure can indicate whether the sounds and movements are random or whether they are evidence of an ability to respond to questions.

From a quality-of-life standpoint, I think the worst possible scenario would be if Terri had spent fifteen years being almost fully conscious but unable to move or respond. The closest thing I’ve experienced – and it’s nothing close – was a few minutes (or seconds) of sleep paralysis, wanting to move and speak after a dream and being unable to. If she, in fact, has no cortical activity and is not conscious in the usual sense, then at least she isn’t suffering.

One more thing. Part of what I saw on Fox News was a claim that people are not kept under advanced life support in countries with universal health care. I know that this is not the case in Canada. Does a typical American health insurance policy cover advanced life support?

42

You have just hit on my worst nightmare. Years ago my father had a stroke during a heart bypass operation and was in a coma for a few days. He did recover (with limitations) and lived for a number of additional years and was able to enjoy several grandchildren. But, while he was still in the coma, I got to dwelling on the situation and had the fear that his mind was active but trapped in an unwilling body. Even though it’s been about 20 years, that thought still scares the daylights out of me. It is quite thought provoking to hear that the condition really exists.

43

No she’s not. She’s had a couple injections (and I imagine she’ll continue to receive periodic injections until she dies). But there have been a couple news reports that she is certainly not on a continuous drip. Most have fallen under the virtual stacks, but I did find clear mention from this Reuters article.