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This is Joely´s board. It´s Natasha who had the accident.

There are multiple tests to show "brain death". Let me tell you - if the docs thought there was a chance at life, they would be pushing for continued life support. Remember - the USA has a pay for play medical system. Natasha Richardson, Liam Neeson and the Redgraves have plenty of money to keep her alive if there was a chance and I am certain they would.

FYI - coma is different from brain death. Coma is a symptom of brain death but one does not have to be brain dead to be in a coma. Brain death is the complete cessation of activity in the brain from the brain stem on up. One of the tests they use actually shows the dead tissue areas of the brain - it marks the areas where blood flow has been completely eradicated. If there is any areas alive in Natasha Richardson, I am sure Liam Neeson would keep her on support.

Its sad to think that the UK's universal health care system would allow people that are only in a coma and not brain dead to be murdered for organs. Guess that is the wonderful part of the USA. Please note that the Natasha, Liam and the Redgraves are all Brits. Gee, I wonder why they brought her to the US instead...

PS...this is Natasha Richardson's sister, Joely Richardson's, message board.

"Its sad to think that the UK's universal health care system would allow people that are only in a coma and not brain dead to be murdered for organs."

What?

Where did you hear that from? That's so totally made up.

Whilst it's true that you can apply to a court in the UK to have the machines turned off when the the doctors and the person is braindead and the doctor and the family agree it's for the best (eg the Tony Bland case), they can't make you do it to get your organs! And you don't even have to register to be an organ donor so that's just nonsense.

And they won't even do it unless you're completely braindead (as far as I know the only exception was the Re A (Conjoined Twins) case where they had to separate some Siamese twins and it would mean that the weaker one would definitely die - but otherwise you have to actually braindead).

The NHS will keep paying for mnedical care to look after people in a coma until they wake up or die. It might be funded by the tax payer but they don't just give up after a certain period. You can bet you'd be in a worse position in the US with the insurance company trying to find some reason why your insurance shouldn't cover you so they can keep their profits.

And you can actually get health insurance in the UK (eg BUPA) where you get a slightly higher level of service (eg more extensive check-ups, nicer food in hospital, shorter waiting lists for hip replacements etc), it's just most people don't bother because the NHS is good enough. And the system actually works better over here because the insurance companies have to provide a much better level of service otherwise nobody would bother getting insured. In the US, there is no alternative so the companies are free to provide crappy service and spend a high proportion of the money on claims investigators to find a way for them not to pay for your healthcare when something does go wrong.

I lived in Florida for a few months and although I liked the country, the medical system is completely stupid.

If it weren't for my horse I wouldn't have spent that year in college.