Human life is a precious gift from God, something that should never be cast aside or taken for granted. Tragically, there are those in the medical world who support doing just that.
Patients labeled as “unconscious” have, in some cases, been abandoned by the very professionals who are supposed to help them. Hospitals and insurance companies often view these individuals through the dehumanizing lens of “vegetables,” considering them a burden on resources.
Recent studies have indicated that patients diagnosed as “unconscious” may, in fact, be conscious after 
all. Research published in the New England Journal of Medicine titled “Cognitive Motor Dissociation in Disorders of Consciousness” found that this was the case in 25% of patients diagnosed as unconscious. This study describes this as “hidden consciousness.”
To determine a patient’s state of “unconsciousness,” they were given instructions like, “imagine opening and closing your hand” while their brain activity was monitored through fMRI or EEG.
The study’s lead author, Yelena Bodien, stated, “Some patients with severe brain injury do not appear to be processing their external world. However, when they are assessed with advanced techniques such as task-based fMRI and EEG, we can detect brain activity that suggests otherwise.”
This study is not an isolated finding. Another research study titled “The Vegetative State: Prevalence, Misdiagnosis, and Treatment Limitation” published in PubMed, found that seventeen (39%) of 41 patients presumed to be in a vegetative state/unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (VS/UWS) were at least minimally conscious.
The implications of this information shed light on the tragic consequences of denying treatment to patients viewed as unresponsive.
One such example is that of Kate Adamson, who was featured on our award-winning TV program Facing
Life Head On. After suffering a sudden stroke, she found herself trapped in her own body. When asked if she could hear what was going on around her she recounted, “I had two small toddlers an 18-month-old and a three-year-old, and I was living life. And all of a sudden, here I am, completely paralyzed, unable to move a muscle, unable to utter a word. But you heard everything going on around you? I did, and you could feel and I could feel.”
The now-infamous case of Terri Schiavo tragically also comes to mind. Terri was labeled a “vegetable” despite the protests of her family. During her brief period of rehabilitation, Terri showed improvement, which was documented in her medical records. Despite this, her husband made the decision to cut off her treatment, resulting in Terri’s unconscionable death by starvation and dehydration.
Patients that appear to have lost consciousness should never be cast aside. Their lives should never be taken for granted. Though some in the medical world may view them through dehumanizing lenses, their lives are still sacred. The thought that these patients may not be “unconscious” as labeled, but instead may have hidden consciousness, is harrowing.
The traumatic and awful deaths they suffered must never be repeated.
Defending Life,
Brad Mattes,
President, Life Issues Institute
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