(New York Times) – New research is upending what we thought about the consciousness of patients, leaving families with agonizing choices.

The vegetative state, as it turned out, was not fixed — though, practically, the label tended to stick. Tabitha learned that once a patient was diagnosed as “vegetative” and then admitted into a nursing home, it was almost impossible for family members to get a second opinion and a new diagnosis and then, maybe, though only maybe, a new insurance-company authorization and entry into a rehabilitation program.

Instead, when a family member, sitting at the bedside, reported the early flickerings of consciousness in a loved one, she was usually dismissed as seeing what she wished to see. (Read More)