Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Confused

Why is it that now even National Geographic is telling us that Terri cannot feel pain if she is in a Persistent Vegetative State (aka PVS), and yet she is being administered morphine?

And get these whoppers in the last two paragraphs of the National Geographic article:

According to Bernat, hospice nurses and doctors say that terminally ill, dying patients who do not eat or drink do not suffer. "They are given mouth care—moistening of dry mouth—and sometimes medications if they are restless. But they usually die very peacefully," he said.

Despite the general consensus that people in a persistent vegetative state feel no bodily pain, Schiavo's caregivers at Woodside Hospice recently began administering the painkiller morphine to her. "Since some relatives claim she is not in PVS, this practice reassures them she will not suffer," Bernat said.

First, how many times do we need to scream from the rooftops that Terri is not terminally ill?

The ignorant reporting on Terri continues to bewilder.

Second, the last paragraph implies that Woodside recently decided to start the administration of morphine when, in fact, an Exit Protocol has existed since at least 2003.

What is wrong with my thinking:

If she is PVS, she cannot feel pain.

And yet, she is being given morphine.

The contradiction might imply that she is not in a PVS and hence being killed by the actions of Michael Schiavo and the State of Florida.

The National Geographic had better stick to pictures of elephants in Africa. Anything else is clearly beyond their ability to be accurate.