Rifkinson-Mann Stephanie
American Medical Association, USA.
J Health Law. 2003 Fall;36(4):523-48.
"Persistent vegetative state" (PVS) describes brain-damaged patients who survive their injuries in a sleeplike, insensible state, with periodic awakenings. Due to technological advances, such individuals can sustain biological existence for prolonged periods of time. Their existence results in a dichotomy between the legal and medical interpretations of persistent vegetative states, giving rise to ethical conflicts. The author reviews the limitations in our understanding of what PVS signifies for the afflicted individual, and explores the conflicts arising from such limitations that may impact an individual's right to live or die. The author concludes that the medical community has yet to adopt consistent clinical criteria to diagnose PVS and that a universal standard for PVS is needed to avoid the abuse of vegetative individuals' rights.
“持续性植物状态”（PVS）指的是脑部受损患者，他们在受伤后以类似睡眠的无知觉状态存活下来，会周期性苏醒。由于技术进步，这类个体能够长时间维持生物性生存。他们的存在导致了对持续性植物状态在法律和医学解释上的二分法，引发了伦理冲突。作者回顾了我们在理解PVS对患者意味着什么方面的局限性，并探讨了因这些局限性而产生的可能影响个体生死权利的冲突。作者得出结论，医学界尚未采用一致的临床标准来诊断PVS，需要一个PVS的通用标准以避免对植物人权利的滥用。
