The history of medicine is replete with treatments, diagnoses, and procedures that, while well-intended at the time, we now regard with horror as being barbaric and inhumane. When future generations judge our era, one of the areas where they’ll likely be aghast is our treatment of those who we regard as lacking consciousness.
The tragic case of Rom Houben is an example of what they will find:
A man thought by doctors to be in a vegetative state for 23 years was actually conscious the whole time, it was revealed last night.
Student Rom Houben was misdiagnosed after a car crash left him totally paralysed. He had no way of letting experts, family or friends know he could hear every word they said. ‘I screamed, but there was nothing to hear,’ said Mr Houben, now 46.
Doctors used a range of coma tests, recognised worldwide, before reluctantly concluding that his consciousness was ‘extinct’. But three years ago, new hi-tech scans showed his brain was still functioning almost completely normally. Mr Houben said: ‘All that time I just literally dreamed of a better life. Frustration is too small a word to describe what I felt.’
His case has only just been revealed in a scientific paper released by the man who ’saved’ him, top neurological expert Dr Steven Laureys.
‘Medical advances caught up with him,’ said Dr Laureys, who believes there may be many similar cases of false comas around the world.
How many people have suffered—are suffering now—because our knowledge of medicine is still in many respects inadequate and rudimentarily? It’s both shocking and humbling to think how much there is about the human body that we still don’t understand.
(Via: The Corner)
November 23rd, 2009 | 9:30 am
There was a fascinating article in the New Yorker a couple years back about this type of situation. It can be read here:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/10/15/071015fa_fact_groopman
A surprisingly high percentage of people in “vegetative” states can hear, think, understand, imagine, etc. Certainly something that family members and pastors should be aware of if they know someone in this condition.
November 23rd, 2009 | 11:19 am
[...] the Ron Houben case mentioned earlier by Joe Carter: There are crucial lessons to [...]
November 23rd, 2009 | 11:37 am
If the medical decison is now going to br decided on th cost of the care and the “quality” of life, what decision will the medical caregivers under the ne medical care of the governmenet amke, in such cases?
November 23rd, 2009 | 12:45 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by James McAdams, James McAdams. James McAdams said: Having been pretty much consciously bound to a dead body for 30-odd years, what'll he do now he's been released? http://tinyurl.com/yhngo74 [...]
November 23rd, 2009 | 5:43 pm
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jamesmcadams82: I can’t even begin to imagine this – http://tinyurl.com/yhngo74 -…
November 24th, 2009 | 9:46 am
And my wife says she would rather die than be in such a state. “Kill me if you think I’m conscious,” she says. Sweet Christ.
November 25th, 2009 | 2:40 pm
I hold some skepticism. Not of the fact that brain scans showed “normal” function – that seems reasonable enough. But of quotes like “‘I screamed, but there was nothing to hear,’ said Mr Houben”
These words aren’t spoken by Mr Houben – they’re typed onto a computer with a person “supporting” his arm whilst Mr Houben himself remains otherwise practically motionless. My skepticism will be removed if Mr Houben can type the same thing while the person supporting his arm is blindfolded.
November 25th, 2009 | 6:21 pm
This is obviously a scam/elaborate Ouija. This Cruel Farce Has To Stop!
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