PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - C Borthwick
TI  - The proof of the vegetable: a commentary on medical futility.
AID  - 10.1136/jme.21.4.205
DP  - 1995 Aug 01
TA  - Journal of Medical Ethics
PG  - 205--208
VI  - 21
IP  - 4
4099  - http://jme.bmj.com/content/21/4/205.short
4100  - http://jme.bmj.com/content/21/4/205.full
SO  - J Med Ethics1995 Aug 01; 21
AB  - Patients with 'persistent vegetative state' (PVS) are often cited in the discussions of ethicists as examples of human beings who are unconscious and do not experience life, and a number of theoretical and practical recommendations have been made on that basis. This article examines the evidence and the theoretical rationale for the belief that people with PVS are unconscious and finds them wanting. This conclusion is related to the practice of the discipline of ethics.