They were the subject of public controversy with family members, court systems, medical professionals, the media, and society at large. Terri Schiavo, Nancy Cruzan and Karen Ann Quinlan; their names are synonymous with permanent vegetative state (PVS). The incredible technological advances of modern medicine have been credited with keeping people alive who in the past would have died, so this is notable for countless families. In the case of the Quinlans, the Cruzans, and many like them, family members find it unbearable to see their loved ones remain indefinitely in PVS with little or no chance of recovery. There are many like Terri Schiavo's parents, who value the lives of their loved ones, no matter how limited their lives are. Then the medical, legal and moral questions arise; Should PVS patients be denied nutrition and hydration until death? Patients living in developing countries should be provided with all available medical care to increase their chances of recovery, but whether they recover or not, they are human beings and the limited life they have should be preserved and treated with dignity.Terri Schiavo with his mother at Woodside Hospice in Pinellas Park, Florida in 2005. Permanent vegetative state of consciousness (OCD) disorders refer to patients in coma, vegetative states (VS), locked-in syndrome, and minimally conscious states. Characteristics of the vegetative state are arousal without awareness of self or environment. People can blink, smile and make sounds, but these functions are exclusively involuntary. “A “persistent vegetative state” is a vegetative state that remains one month after brain damage, which becomes a “permanent vegetative state” three months after a non-traumatic brain…… half of the article……Response to people in persistent vegetative state . Retrieved from http://www.xenos.org/ministries/crossroads/donal/pvs.htm.Rakestraw, R. (2004). Persistent vegetative state and suspension of nutrition and hydration. Retrieved from http://http://people.bethel.edu/~rakrob/Ronald Cranford. (2005). Facts, lies and videotapes: the permanent vegetative state and the sad case of Terri Schiavo. The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 33(2), 363-71. Retrieved January 26, 2011, from Research Library. (Document ID: 860574831).Sarà, M., & Pistoia, F. (2010). Defining consciousness: lessons from patients and modern techniques. Journal of Neurotrauma, 27(4), 771-3. Retrieved January 21, 2011, from Research Library. (Document ID: 2016803151).Too vigorously assisted suicide. (2005). National Review, 57(6), 14. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.