[Medical, juridical and ethical problems in permanent vegetative state]

Except in the United Kingdom, there are no epidemiological data on permanent vegetative state in Europe over the last 12 years. Transposing the British (and Japanese) data to Switzerland with a population of 7 million, an annual incidence of some 70 cases can be expected and a prevalence of about 200-350 cases. The ethics committees of a number of Anglo-American societies specialized in the field postulate the ending of life-sustaining measures if the diagnosis of permanent vegetative state is definitely established. The medical, legal and ethical grounds for such a postulate are summarized.