Reply #86: Are you going to give us empirical evidence of not ? [View All]

[plasticsundance]

All I hear from you is hysterical rantings without offering one fact based evidence. You provide an argument of insistence, an insistence filled with straw man arguments, and one identifying an argument lacking facts and true scientific inquiry. Those siding with the parents in this case are not those that embrace science.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-asecschiavoquest23032305mar23,1,1720211.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

Question: What is a "persistent vegetative state" and how is it diagnosed? Is it unusual for doctors to disagree?

Answer: People in a persistent vegetative state have lost all higher brain function, including the ability to think, experience emotions and understand the world around them. However, they continue to sleep and wake; open their eyes; breathe on the their own; and even make noises and facial expressions.

This is because their brain stems -- the portion of the brain that controls basic functions such as heartbeat and breathing -- continue to function.

Those suffering from this condition do not track objects with their eyes, blink on command or respond consistently to cues in the environment. When a patient fails tests over a period of time, doctors consider the condition "persistent."

Doctors who examine the same patient can reach different conclusions, but time is the best arbiter of diverging views, said Dr. Michael Pulley, an assistant professor of neurology at the University of Florida campus in Jacksonville.

"The way to resolve it is to see if there is any change over time," Pulley said, adding that improvements would be expected within the first weeks or months of the injury.

Terri Schiavo has been in this state for 15 years.

Your argument is based off conjuring the opinion of public officials and leaders, but they are not privy to the expertise of science. They are mere Peripatetics stroking their chins and adjusting their togas. I would have hoped the age of enlightenment and reason would have made such people obsolete.