I would agree with that approach, but it would have been illegal in Florida. As it turned out, her autopsy showed that there was very little brain mass left, confirming the opinion of those that said she was brain dead anyway.

I guess if the doctors conclude that a patient is actually brain dead, or whose condition is irreversible, they're not going to have the ability to be hungry or thirsty anyway. So short of making euthanasia legal, what other choices are there? My experience has been that the medical people administer pain drugs, which both control pain and slow body functions, having the effect of hastening death while making sure the patient is at least free of any discomfort.

I had to make exactly that decision with both my parents, neither of whom had Living Wills, and concluded that to be the case. Both my wife and I decided that we would never require our children to make that decision for us. We both have executed Living Wills and periodically review them and update our signatures.

Geez, this is a depressing thread. Let's quit talking about this stuff.