Letters to the Editor

This letter is associated with the following article:
Read other letters about this article
The light's on, but is anybody home?
An extraordinary brain study concludes that a woman in a vegetative state is aware of herself. It's a dangerous claim that could throw families and physicians into turmoil.
By Robert Burton [2007-09-25]

  • The silent pain

    The ultimate question for me always comes down to this: Can the allegedly non-conscious, non-responsive person nevertheless feel pain within the depths of his own body? I can't help but believe he does, and even if a doctor does not, how can we not err on the side of doing no more harm? The idea that we can put a patient through the horrific pain of starvation and thirst, wash our hands of it and call it care takes my breath away.

    As the huge baby boom population ages and more and more of us are sure to wind up in this limbo state, somebody has got to ask the question: When will we mercifully allow hopeless but possibly agonized patients to pass humanely, in the way that we allow our pets to?

    -- Quiet Type
    [Read Quiet Type's other letters]
    Tuesday, September 25, 2007 10:05 AM
Read other letters about this article

Letters Help