Comatose woman taken off respirator stable: doctor

SEOUL, June 24 (Yonhap) -- A Seoul hospital said Wednesday that a 77-year-old
comatose patient who was removed from life support Tuesday in the nation's first
court-approved "death with dignity" case is living longer than expected, as she
continues to breathe on her own for the second day.

The woman, identified only by her surname Kim, has been in a vegetative state
since suffering postoperative cerebral damage in February of last year. Complying
with the Supreme Court's recent approval of her right to die with dignity,
doctors at Severance Hospital turned off her respirator Tuesday.
Doctors and Kim's family had expected her to die less than three hours after
removal from the device.
Although she is still breathing on her own over 24 hours after the withdrawal of
the device and the hospital continues to provide her with fluids and nutritional
supplements, Kim is not yet out of danger.
"We should take it seriously that Kim's susceptible condition can turn into
pneumonia or a heart attack," Park Chang-il, a senior Severance doctor, told
reporters. "We have to wait two weeks to one month before being able to determine
if she will remain stable. If she continues to breathe longer than that period,
she will probably survive far longer than expected."
brk@yna.co.kr
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