Opinion ID: 2276022
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Permanently Unconscious is a Fallacy

Text: One of the most disturbing aspects of the majority opinion is the subtle reliance on the statutory term Permanently Unconscious as defined in KRS 311.621(12), supra, maj. op., at note 1. That term has medical meaning but the common import is senseless because it infers irreversibility to the unconscious state. The illogic of the import is that it implies a certainty that the person labeled such will never recover. In this sense, the only person permanently unconscious is one that is already dead. Using the label however, makes the person attempting to govern the life or death of another moderately more likely to assume that recovery is impossible and thereby order the death of another when the likelihood of consciousness is not adequately ascertainable or if the likelihood becomes difficult to predict. Perhaps the most chilling aspect of this case is that the treating physicians had arrived at the conclusion that Woods had reached a state of permanent unconsciousness in order to recommend withdrawal of life support. Such a recommendation had been made on the belief that he was permanently unconscious, however, Woods had later shown a recovery strong enough to cause one doctor to retract his previous recommendation.