From Chris Finn
In her thought-provoking article on “impossible awakenings” Helen Phillips says that persistent vegetative state “is not so much a diagnosis as a symptom…” (7 July, p 40). At the risk of pedantry, I have to say that PVS patients cannot by definition have symptoms. Symptoms are subjective and reported by the patient – for example, nausea or itching. Objective observations – such as rash or pallor – made by someone such as a doctor are called signs.
Beverley, East Yorkshire, UK
