Doctors thought he was in a coma, but he was in fact conscious for 23 years

[Stumptown]

Originally Posted by troutman

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=2838
It is also, in my opinion, a further abuse of this patient. Mr. Houben, if he is truly conscious, has now been deprived once again of his ability to communicate – usurped by a facilitator, who will be communicating in his name (and even writing a book, we are told).

This is the aspect of the FC in this case that's really horrifying. I can't image what the patient would be going through if he really was conscious. It really is abuse. Exploitation of the worst kind.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Stumptown

This is the aspect of the FC in this case that's really horrifying. I can't image what the patient would be going through if he really was conscious. It really is abuse. Exploitation of the worst kind.

Honestly, it'll probably be the most interesting thing that's happened to him in 23 years.

[FFR]

Bump - Update: Apparently he can't actually communicate after all

(Like many on here speculated).

Link: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...b=TopStoriesV2

It was heralded as a medical miracle. After spending more than two decades in a coma, Rom Houben, a Belgian man in his mid-forties, was suddenly able to communicate, news reports trumpeted last November.

.....

Houben's doctors said it seemed to be genuine. Until now.

Dr. Steven Laureys, a neurologist at Liege University Hospital in Belgium, one of Houben's doctors, now acknowledges the technique doesn't work and that while Houben is conscious, he is not communicating.

[Flames_Gimp]

omg that is my idea of what hell is if it existed.

kind of reminds me of this:



kind of reminds me of this.