Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Jeremy Laurance: The decision to end a life is never easy

Analysis

Saturday 11 July 2009 00:00 BST
Comments

Predicting the outcome for a patient in a coma is one of the hardest judgments in medicine. Some recover, some die and some remain halfway between, in a persistent vegetative state.

Deciding when to withdraw artificial feeding and other life sustaining treatment is difficult for families and doctors, as Colin Hendry will know.

Patients like Denise Hendry who have a non-traumatic coma – failing to wake after surgery or suffering a stroke – have the worst prognosis; only 15 per cent survive one month. Traumatic coma – after a road crash or similar incident – has the best prognosis but the survival rate is still 50 per cent or less.

Generally, anyone who has been in a coma for more than two weeks has a diminishing chance of recovery. But there are exceptions.

Families can have unrealistic expectations for recovery and disagreements about treatment can, at worst, can end up in the courts.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in