3 ms·
Jeannerod told the Guardian: “He is still paralysed...”
by subroutine 8y ago
Jeannerod told the Guardian: “He is still paralysed...”
- pygy_ 8y agoParalized doesn’t mean locked in. He might have been hemiplegic or hemiparetic, which can cause pulmonary aspirations. The patient’s family wanted their death to remain confidential, for whatever reason. The authors lied, but it wasn’t for nefarious purposes.
- ben_w 8y agoIf it’s not nefarious, it would be better to say the author erred rather than lied, as the latter implies deliberate deceit.
- pygy_ 8y agoIndeed. Even if the patient died, and even if only a subset of patients are eligible, this is still a major breakthrough. Waking up after years in a vegetative state is extremely rare. People with ischemic or traumatic brain injury severe enough to cause a coma, and who don’t die early, end up either in permanent vegetative state, or recover somehow. People who recover must often deal with physical, cognitive and behavioral impairments that make them prone to complications such as infection, even when they wake up spontaneously.