† "Persistent Vegetative State" Diagnoses Too Often A Rush To Judgement (second item): After a car crash left him completelty paralyzed at the age of 23 Rom Houben was misdiagnosed as being in a vegetative state, although he was actually conscious, reports The Daily Mail:

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 describes the moment as 'my second birth'.

Therapy has since allowed him to tap out messages on a computer screen. …

The disclosure will also renew the right-to-die debate over whether people in comas are truly unconscious. …

Supporters of euthanasia and assisted suicide argue that people who have lain in persistent vegetative states for years should be given the opportunity to have crucial medical support withdrawn because of the 'indignity' of their condition.

But there have been several cases in which people judged to be in vegetative states or deep comas have recovered.

Houben will probably remain hospitalized for the rest of his life, but he can communicate with his computer and can read with the aid of a special device. 

† Hospital Tells Doctor: Ditch The Hijab: As The Stiletto pointed out a couple of weeks back, a doctor’s choice of attire may be a factor in hospital-acquired infections. The Wall Street Journal reports that several hospitals are considering bans on neckties - which are typically “rarely, if ever, cleaned” -  because “[w]hen a patient is seated on the examining table, doctors' ties often dangle perilously close to sneeze level”:

In June, the American Medical Association considered Resolution 720, which advocates a new dress code for doctors "due to evidence that neckties, long sleeves and other clothing items and accessories have been implicated in the spread of infections in hospitals." An AMA committee is seeking solid scientific evidence before it brings the matter to a vote.

The British Medical Association already decided the issue. It recommended in 2006 that physicians jettison "functionless" articles of clothing, including neckties, "as superbugs can be carried on them."

Unfortunately, medical groups worldwide are falling behind the curve while waiting for the science to catch up to the common sense observation that pieces of fabric dangling in a patient’s face could become disease vectors as doctors move from one sick person to the next. With Muslims increasingly insisting on adhering to the dictates of Sharia law in professional settings, in addition to seeking a consensus on neckties, public health experts should also examine whether the hijab is dangerous to patients’ health.

† Turkey Is Devolving: Part II: It’s always been dicey being a journalist (last item) in the increasingly Islamist Turkey, but now it’s apparently a crime to be secular. The “Ergenekon case” is exposing fissures between “a secular elite seeking to hold on to its waning influence and a growing, increasingly assertive population of observant Muslims,” reports The New York Times:

Since 2007, 300 people have been detained during the investigation of an underground group known as Ergenekon, including a writer of erotic novels, four-star generals and other military officers, professors, editors and underworld figures - some of whom appear to have committed no offense greater than speaking in favor of Turkey as a secular state.

“Ergenekon has become a larger project in which the investigation is being used as a tool to sweep across civic society and cleanse Turkey of all secular opponents,” said Aysel Celikel, a former justice minister and president of a charity that finances the secular education of underprivileged rural girls. “As such, the country’s democracy, its rule of law and its freedom of expression are at stake.”

In all, 194 people have been charged, accused of trying to overthrow the government as part of Ergenekon (pronounced ahr-GEN-eh-kahn), named after a mythic Turkish valley. Prosecutors contend that they planned to engage in civil unrest, assassinations and terrorism to create chaos and undermine the stability of Turkey as groundwork for a coup.

The European Union - which is considering including Turkey in its ranks - is monitoring the trial’s progress to determine whether the proceedings will be conducted according to Western standards of justice.

† The Pot Calling The Kettle Fat: To address the high rates of obesity and diabetes in the black community, officials at historically black Lincoln University in PA are requiring overweight undergrads to take a fitness course before they can get their degrees, reports The Associated Press:

"We know we're in the midst of an obesity epidemic," said James L. DeBoy, chairman of Lincoln's department of health, physical education and recreation. "We have an obligation to address this head on, knowing full well there's going to be some fallout." …

The mandate, which took effect for freshmen entering in fall 2006, requires students to get tested for their body mass index, a measure of weight to height.

A normal BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9. Students with one that's 30 or above - considered obese - are required to take a class called "Fitness for Life," which meets three hours a week.

The course involves walking, aerobics, weight training and other physical activities, as well as information on nutrition, stress and sleep, DeBoy said.

As of this fall, DeBoy estimated about 80 seniors - 16 percent of the class - had not had their body mass index tested nor taken the fitness class. Some of those students will likely be exempt from taking the class once they get their BMI results, he said. …

DeBoy stressed that students are not required to lose weight or lower their BMI; they must only pass the class through attendance and participation.

† Updates To Previous Posts (second item, Nationalized Healthcare Always LeadsTo Rationing): A shell-shocked Diana Petitti, vice-chairwoman of the federally funded U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, tells The Wall Street Journal that the new guidelines the group issued were “never meant to convey that women in their 40s shouldn't get mammograms, nor that they sought to discourage women from examining their breasts for signs of cancer”:

“The task force is not against women having mammograms in their 40s,” Dr. Petitti said in an interview. Instead, she said, it is in favor of women in that age range deciding on their own, after consulting with their doctors, whether to undergo regular screenings.

Similarly, the task force merely intended to signal that primary-care physicians no longer need to teach women how to conduct self-examinations because of a lack of evidence that such outreach is effective. But it didn't mean to deter women from the practice, which can sometimes lead to the early detection of cancerous lumps.

† Updates To Previous Posts (seventh item, What It's Like To Be Sheriff Joe): According to a Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of AZ voters, Maricopa County if Sheriff Joe Arpaio challenges “[e]mbattled” incumbent Republican Jan Brewer, who filled the vacancy created when Janet Napolitano became secretary of Homeland Security, he has “the best shot” at beating likely Democratic candidate Terry Goddard in 2010: “Arpaio, famed for his crackdowns on illegal immigrants, leading Goddard, the state’s current attorney general, by 12 points – 51% to 39%. … [Brewer] trails Goddard by nine points - 44% to 35%.”

† Updates To Previous Posts (third item, Why Shouldn’t Illegals Get Government Healthcare?): On October 4, Atlanta’s Grady Memorial Hospital closed its outpatient dialysis clinic, “leaving 51 patients - almost all illegal immigrants - in a life-or-death limbo,” reports The New York Times [emphasis throughout, The Stiletto]:

Some knew before the crossing that they had diabetes or lupus or high blood pressure, but it was only after they arrived that their kidneys began to fail. To survive, they needed dialysis at a cost of about $50,000 a year, which their sporadic work as housekeepers, painters and laborers could not begin to cover. [Emphasis throughout, The Stiletto].

And so they turned to Grady, a taxpayer-supported safety-net hospital that would provide dialysis to anyone in need, even illegal immigrants with no insurance or ability to pay. …

For Grady, which has served Atlanta’s poor for 117 years, it was an excruciating choice, a stark reflection of what happens when the country’s inadequate health care system confronts its defective immigration policy.

Like other hospitals, particularly public hospitals, Grady has been left to provide costly treatments to nonpaying illegal residents who most likely could not have obtained such care in their home countries. American taxpayers and health care consumers have borne the expense. …

With limited exceptions, illegal immigrants are ineligible for public insurance programs like Medicaid and Medicare and often cannot afford private coverage. When major illness strikes, they have few options but to go to emergency rooms, which are required by federal law to treat anyone whose health is deemed in serious jeopardy. …

Some of the Grady dialysis patients have chosen to return to their countries, encouraged by the hospital’s offer of free airfare, cash payments, three months of paid dialysis and assistance in seeking insurance or other long-term remedies. Others are trying their luck in states where Medicaid policies may be less restrictive.

But most remain in Atlanta, taking full advantage of a last-minute offer by the hospital, in response to a lawsuit, to pay for three months of dialysis at commercial clinics. They are hopeful that the reprieve will buy time for the lawsuit to progress or for private dialysis providers to take them as charity cases.

The “public option” will extend health insurance coverage to illegal aliens - and it will be “paid for” by limiting life-prolonging or cutting edge medical treatment to senior citizens via Medicare.

† Updates To Previous Posts (seventh item, Why We Need Gitmo): Responding to Attorney General Eric Holder’s testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee ("I'm not scared of what KSM would say at trial"), syndicated columnist Debra Saunders writes that she is “scared of what a federal judge might say and do” because “the Obama administration has opened the door for other federal judges to issue rulings that affect or delay the trial and/or punishment.” For instance:

[I]n February 2006, U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel blocked an execution because there was a .0000000000001 chance that a convicted rapist/murderer facing execution might feel pain when administered a three-drug cocktail. In so ruling, Fogel blocked not only that killer's execution, but also any other execution in California. …

I'm scared of what President Obama said to NBC's Chuck Todd last week - that those bothered with the change of venue for Mohammed won't find it "offensive at all when he's convicted and when the death penalty is applied to him." In pronouncing the verdict and punishment before the trial, Obama has handed civil libertarians ammunition.

I'm scared by what Holder said in response to this question by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.: "Can you give me a case in U.S. history where an enemy combatant caught on a battlefield was tried in civilian court?" Holder said he'd "have to look at that," after which Graham answered that there is no such case.

According to a recent Rasmussen Repots telephone survey of U.S. voters, 51 percent oppose the Obama administration’s decision to try KSM in a civilian court in New York City, but 58 percent “are at least somewhat confident that NYC will be safe and secure while the trials are going on” while 38 percent are “not very or not at all confident” of this.  

The Stiletto fears that with President Barack Hussein Obama having all but declared that KSM’s conviction and execution are – to coin a phrase – a slam dunk, when the preordained result has been realized jihadis will emerge from their caves in Pakistan and Afghanistan to converge upon NYC and blow up key hubs in the subway system, like Grand Central, Times Square and 14^th Street - which would not only kill thousands of commuters, but would cripple the city’s economy by driving fearful residents and tourists from using this vital mode of transportation (perhaps for years to come). And you think healthcare reform is expensive? Try imagining the price tag to repair and replace these central subterranean transfer points. It’s not like Muslim terrorists haven’t been itching to take out the NYC subway system.

† Updates To Previous Posts (sixth item, A Court Of Law, Not Of Justice): In a setback to a class of juveniles who claim their rights were violated by former Luzerne County, PA, judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella Jr. U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo ruled that they were protected by judicial immunity, reports The Legal Intelligencer:

"The degree of corrupt behavior is not the touchstone of the immunity doctrine's application," Caputo wrote. "The doctrine holds that judges with bad intentions, as well as those with good intentions, are immune from suit." …

Conahan and Ciavarella are facing a 48-count racketeering indictment for allegedly accepting $2.8 million from the builder and former co-owner of private juvenile detention facilities. Both federal investigators and attorneys for the juveniles have alleged those payments motivated the judges to send children to those facilities. …

The plaintiffs, led by the Philadelphia-based Juvenile Law Center, had argued from the beginning that neither Conahan nor Ciavarella should be granted immunity because their acts were so far outside the norm.

Ciavarella's corruption, the JLC argued, was so egregious that he was not acting as a judge while he was adjudicating juveniles delinquent and sentencing them. …