[When we "are neither alive nor dead": the Schiavo's case]

Recently the world was drawn into the news of the Terri Schiavo case. Like in that case many other patients and relatives face similar situation. We foresee more medical and legal struggles caused primarily by the use of advanced life-sustaining medical technology that could prolong the life of human beings with progressive neurodegenerative disorders, or acquired irreversible brain injury. This is an appropriate time to ponder the course of action when we "neither live nor die". We agree, as Terri Schiavo's parents' representatives affirm, that Terri was not in a terminal state (end-of-life situation). Her life could have been prolonged for another fifteen years. However, her clinical presentation was not easy to comprehend by some. That way Terri has become a window through which the educated public realized that ethical decisions regarding medical affairs are always played in an environment of uncertainty and probabilities. One of the factors that make such situation more painful is the patient's incompetence to respond. In the long run, despite the family tragedy, we can not deny that the Schiavo case provides us the basis for a thorough and careful reflection about our human brittleness.