By Michael Cook A Chinese man has regained consciousness after five years in a coma during which his wife nursed him every day, all day. Li Zhihua, of Hubei Province, was seriously brain-damaged after being knocked off his scooter in 2013. His wife, 57-year-old Zhang Guihuan, became his sole carer. Doctors initially thought that Li …
Continue reading "After 5 years, defying the doctors, Li Zhihua wakes up"
By Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition Tafida Raqeeb has been diagnosed with arteriovenous malformation, a rare condition which causes the blood vessels to have abnormal connections between the arteries and veins. Tafida had a brain bleed on February 9 that has left her in coma in the Royal London Hospital where the doctors …
Continue reading "Tafida Raqeeb is the latest case of a UK child being denied treatment abroad"
By Michael Cook How do we know that patients with acute brain injuries who seem completely unresponsive really are? Some retain what doctors call “covert consciousness” – but which ones? A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine says that about 15% of such patients are responding to verbal commands in their …
Continue reading "More evidence that people in ‘vegetative states’ may be aware"
By Michael Cook Last week, in a case which has divided France as Terri Schiavo’s did in the US, a Frenchman who has been in a vegetative state for more than 10 years had a last-minute reprieve from dying after doctors turned off his life support. It was turned back on pending further deliberations in …
Continue reading "The ‘affaire Vincent Lambert’ is a test of the nation’s commitment to the disabled"
Son says, “I never gave up on her because I always had a feeling that one day she will wake up” By Dave Andrusko There are so many layers of miracles to Munira Abdulla’s awakening after 27 years, it’s hard to know where to start. On Monday, The National, an Emerati-based newspaper, first published details …
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By Martin M. Barillas TUCSON, Arizona– Nutrition and hydration have been restored to a 32-year-old man in a coma in an Arizona Catholic hospital after his mom posted heartbreaking videos on social media last week saying that doctors were slowly starving her son to death. David Ruiz, a father of three, suffered a stroke and …
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Family calls him “miracle man” By Dave Andrusko Where have we heard this story before? On December 12, T. Scott Marr is found in his bed, unresponsive but breathing, and rushed to Methodist Hospital where he is placed on a breathing machine. He is diagnosed as having suffered a stroke. The family returns the next …
Continue reading "Diagnosed as “on his way to brain death,” man becomes responsive after children skip appointment with funeral home"
By Dave Andrusko In his post for the Catholic Phily, Richard Doerflinger calls new findings and recommendations from a prestigious group of medical organizations nothing short of “game-changing.” Doerflinger, who worked for 36 years in the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, is referring to new guidelines from the American …
Continue reading "New “game-changing” findings and recommendations offer new hope to brain-injured patients unfairly labeled “vegetative”"
By Peter Saunders Editor’s note. Dr. Saunders is a former general surgeon and CEO of Christian Medical Fellowship, a UK-based organization with 4,500 UK doctors and 1,000 medical students as members. People with severe brain damage are difficult to diagnose reliably, not uncommonly recover, and are often much more aware than we think. Specifically: Four …
Continue reading "Severely brain-damaged patients are commonly misdiagnosed, often aware and may well recover, says authoritative new report"
“The Supreme Court has set a dangerous precedent” By SPUC—the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children The Supreme Court has ruled that doctors can withdraw food and fluid from brain-damaged patients without going to court – if the patient’s family is in agreement. The Care not Killing (CNK) Alliance, of which SPUC is a …
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“Eerily similar” cases, shades of Alfie Evans By Dave Andrusko In an incredible coincidence two families are fighting to keep their sons on life support at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. CHOP has declared both Areen Chakrabarti and Jayden Auyeung brain-dead and want them taken off of ventilators, according to Fox News, However, “Both boys are …
Continue reading "Two New Jersey families fight to keep their sons on life-support"
By Dave Andrusko Before I started writing this post, I checked to see how many times NRL News Today had written about Dr. Adrian Owen, who is a Canadian Excellence Research Chair in cognitive neuroscience and imaging based at the University of Western Ontario’s Brain and Mind Institute. Today’s post will make 14 stories about …
Continue reading "Attempting to give patients in a locked-in syndrome “their voice back”"