Was this a good decision?

keyser soze · (#1 (**permalink**))

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4362679.stm

For those of you in the states you must have heard of this story of this woman who is in a vegetative state after a medical problem.

On one hand there is the husband who wants the wife to be disconnected from the life support system and on the other hand we have the parents of the lady who wants the life support system maintained.

What do you guys think?

Sänää · (#2 (**permalink**))

There should be no two ways about it...i hope she lives despite her condition.

Mr. President · (#3 (**permalink**))

I think they did make the right decision. I dont see the need of her being kept alive and she aint of no help. The kinda money she's consuming everyday...should be spent on some else. There are kids who are dying evryday of hunger, we got ppo who will die cuz they cant afford a surgery, there is AIDS that's killing and is going to kill millions that needs to be addressed..so they aint no think twice about that.

Even if all these other crap would be taken care of.. her death would enable her husband, kids, friends and others to move on. Right now her being alive ties many lives... which would like to move on and forget this devastating circumstance...they wanna hurt, moan and cry...grieve and then move on. She is in a vegetative state and I bet no one wants to be in that situation. They need to let go. The family's emotions ..are fair but not logical. It doesn't make sense to have her around.

Boobs · (#4 (**permalink**))

If theyre going to let her die,why not then get rid of all the pple in their vegetable state like the ones with down syndrome?No lets not stop there.Lets kill all the blind and crippled too.How far is too far?

Msoto · (#5 (**permalink**))

I think the point being made, boobs, is not an extremist one...since the person is in a vegetable state...she does not have a the conscience to be able to make decisions. You cannot equate people in a vegetable state to blind people or crippled people or any other form of diverse ability.
Since they have that diverse ability does not infer they have an inability to make decisions.

For this patient the biggest issue of sustaining her on the life support as someone pointed out is cost. There seems to be no light at the end of her tunnel but I feel if shutting the life system down will save many more people say....who need the life system in between operations or say are in a coma then so be it. The amount of money being used to sustain this person could be used to sustain others...or even lower the costs of other life critical operations.

If i was to be in a vegetable state. I would wish for them not to spend money keeping my body alive, for i have lost the ability to live. Instead they would spend that money to save other peoples lives.

TeamManager · (#6 (**permalink**))

>If i was to be in a vegetable state. I would wish for
>them not to spend money keeping my body alive, for i have
>lost the ability to live. Instead they would spend that
>money to save other peoples lives.

Me too, but I would pray that God strengthens my faith and Just like Paul say ... If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Phil 1:22-24

O_D_D · (#7 (**permalink**))

>Me too, but I would pray that God strengthens my faith and
>Just like Paul say ......

yeah..yeah..yeah...bla.

Same god who put you in that situation in the first place? Please nani, amka from that delusional state. That beside, I concur that they ought to let her go. It's the process that is rather disturbing and quite repugnant. Surely, even rapists and murderers have it easy as compared to what leadeth to her demise. And yeah, I know, she is devoid of the sense of feeling, but still, aaaiiii!!Why don't they put her in the incinerator straight up, since she's gonna be cremated anyway? I mean, she won't feel sh!t, right?.

It's just the moral aspect of it that bothers me, otherwise, I still think she needs to go.

dudette · (#8 (**permalink**))

What eating disorder leaves you with a heart disease and brain damage?

ATLian · (#9 (**permalink**))

>Me too, but I would pray that God strengthens my faith

TM, when you're in a Persistent Vegetative State (PVS) like Terri, you cannot pray!

>For this patient the biggest issue of sustaining her on the
>life support as someone pointed out is cost.

Msoto, from what I heard on radio and TV, there's a major difference between a person on life support and one in a PVS. A person on life support can't do some basic instinctive stuff for themself, like breath, swallow saliva, etc. So the life support does stuff like help you breath, drain your saliva so you don't drown yourself in it, etc. A person in a PVS can do these basic functions because the part of their brain that controls those functions isn't dead, so they can still breath and swallow saliva, etc. Some people in a PVS may need life support, but I heard that Terri doesn't. All she needs is the feeding tube, which is why she's in a polite nursing home instead of the ICU of a high-end hospital. I'll add a disclaimer that this is what I heard, so those with some knowledge on the brain like Coach please correct me.

>If they're going to let her die,why not then get rid of all
>the pple in their vegetable state like the ones with down
>syndrome?No lets not stop there.Lets kill all the blind and
>crippled too.How far is too far?

Boobs, 1000 such people are allowed to die every year. Also, the blind, the ones with down syndrome, etc, aren't in an irreversible PVS. In fact most do have an active life, jobs, pay taxes, etc - so I don't think your analogy is appropriate.

Coach · (#10 (**permalink**))

There are...

1. A lot of handicapp children who are unable to make decisions or live their lives without a personal assistant constantly on their side. They probably won't grow up to contribute anything in society.

2. There are people who are mentally ill and know not what they say or do. They are not even (according to human lw) held accountable for anything they do...if they kill, they get help, not punishment.

3. There are millions of elderly people who suffer from grave dementia. They have totally lost it and can $hit in their beds (or on the floor), they are not capable of living without 24hr care, let alone making any decisions. They can live for over 30-40 years in this condition, imagine how much that costs the society..etc..etc...

4. There are millions of people who are imprisoned for life without possibilty of parole. What's the point of feeding someone for years and years only for them to die in prison?

Do we "pull the plug" on all of them? Who are we to decide which life is "not worth" living? Once we start, where do we stop?