Facts, Lies, and Videotapes: The Permanent Vegetative State and the Sad Case of Terri Schiavo

Abstract

Right to die legal cases in the United States have evolved over the last 25 years, beginning with the Karen Quinlan case in 1975. Different substantive and procedural issues have been raised in these cases, and society's thinking has changed as a result of the far more complex legal issues that appear today as opposed to the simplistic views raised in early landmark cases. Many of the early cases involved patients in a vegetative state, but more recently patients who were in a minimally conscious state have been the center of attention. Early cases involved the withdrawal of respirators and other sophisticated technology, but later cases centered on the withdrawal of artificial nutrition and hydration, and even whether it was permissible for competent patients to stop eating and drinking in a normal manner. Initial cases pitted families who argued for withdrawal of treatment, usually against the attending physicians and hospitals and/or the state or federal government, who argued for continuation of treatment.