(Thumbnail image: BBC)

“A new study is challenging the conventional wisdom about people living in a vegetative state...Brain scan results show some patients may have a higher degree of consciousness than previously thought.” (ABC News)

The study, conducted by British and Belgian scientists, is raising ethical questions about whether patients in a vegetative state should have a voice in their own fate.

We’re looking at perspectives from CBC News, The New York Times, the BBC, CNN, and health Web site EmpowHER.

In the study, researchers asked patients to respond to certain commands, while measuring their brain activity with MRIs.  Four of the 23 patients showed signs of alertness, and one responded to yes or no questions.

A CBC correspondent says that has doctors hopeful.

“The doctors involved hope that this technique will allow such patients to express their thoughts and give them some control over their lives again.”

A reporter for The New York Times takes that perspective one step further, saying the decision to live or die could now fall into patients’ hands.

“If the patient can answer a yes or no question, then presumably, he or she can answer the question, 'Do you want to continue living in this state?'”

But on BBC News and CNN, one researcher and his colleague say the findings create more questions than answers.

BBC News: “At the moment, all we know is this patient could answer yes or no questions.  We don’t know whether they have the cognitive competence to be able to make tricky decisions about whether they should live or die.”

CNN: “I think it’s not a black and white situation.  We need to accept first of all, that people may have different opinions, and that in my point of view, we need more facts before we make such decisions.”

In an article on the Web site, EmpowHER, Dr. Allan Ropper explains why answers won’t come easily – even with more scientific evidence.

“The question is, what does it mean? That is what people are going to have to grapple with.  It has to do with what you think life is and what is a meaningful life. Those are social, cultural and theological questions."

Do you think patients in a vegetative state are capable of making a life or death decision?

Writer: Courtney Cebula

Producer: Newsy Staff