persistent vegetative state

noun

medical
: an unconscious state that is the result of severe brain damage and that can last for a very long time

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The Puerto Rican boxer had brain surgery but never fully recovered from his injuries, identified as a large subdural hematoma, and was in a persistent vegetative state. Matt Moret, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2026 The 1976 case, In re Quinlan, involved Karen Ann Quinlan, a young woman in a persistent vegetative state whose family sought permission from the court to withdraw her ventilator. Jennifer McCurdy, The Conversation, 2 June 2026 Teddy also works for Auxolith as a low-level warehouse employee and has a dark history with the company, which, years prior, put his mother Sandy (Alicia Silverstone) on an experimental drug treatment for opioid withdrawal that left her in a persistent vegetative state. Megan McCluskey, Time, 31 Oct. 2025 Reeling from his mother’s newly persistent vegetative state and how Sofia exposed his Achilles’ heel through her, Oz decides that family of any kind is only going to hold him back from achieving true kingpin status. Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 9 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for persistent vegetative state

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“Persistent vegetative state.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/persistent%20vegetative%20state. Accessed 21 Aug. 2026.

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