A Comma Patient, Consciousness Vs Brain Dead?

[copperroads]

If you were a lawyer and had to represent a family in court about keeping a loved one alive and on life support, could you convince 12 jurors that the brain dead person still had consciousness? The right to life is a loaded question. Given all of the posts on here about consciuosness, who here can argue for the family in keeping a person alive when doctors have pronounced a person brain dead. Who would like to argue for the other side and convince 12 jurors that consciousness no longer is present, and that life as we know it is not apart of this person life? Theory or Fact? Could just one of these alone win this case or maybe together you could convince the 12 jurors to side with you. You have heard people say "I Would'nt want to live that Way" But is this living as we know it? Without consciousness do we have the right to stop life? This could be interesting to read!

[Howie]

Hello And welcome copperroads! I would not want to be in that situation. Although in one manner I was forced to. My mother had a severe brain hemorrhage. She could be kept alive with machines. In the event (which means that there was a very remote chance that she could come of life support) it was determined that she would not have half the brain functioing that she once did. So in one sense we took her fate into our hands. We felt that she alone would not want this. There is a lot of grey area involved in these cases. I personally think that with the FMRI machines and PET scans that are available that they can determine if any cognitive functioning is going on. If there is, then personal, religious and selfish reasons mixed with many other factors become the complex factors. At times, emotions begin to supersede common sense. Again IMO. I living will is something that everyone should consider.

[NeAvO]

I wouldn't know what to do, I mean who has the right to decide who lives and who dies. On one side the person is brain dead, so the body is still working but the person is truly dead. Then if you take the body off life support it could be classed as murder, or stopping a possible "miracle recovery." Either way its a hard decision.

[DyerMaker]

It's definitely not an easy question but if I were to place myself in the position of the coma patient it would depend on the circumstances. If there was heavy brain damage I would definitely rather be let go. I couldn't imagine living in shell only half of what I once was and I would much rather have people remember me as my true functioning self. But let's say there was no real damage. I don't know why or if I would be in a coma but if there was a chance of me waking as I am, maybe if I even suffered a little retrograde amnesia I would like to be given the chance to recover but there becomes a point where too much of my life would be wasted. I wouldn't want to be forty with my nineteen year old mind and miss out on family and such.