Misdiagnosis certainly occurs

EDITOR,—It is gratifying, though alarming, that Keith Andrews and colleagues' study1 so closely duplicates our findings regarding misdiagnosis of the vegetative state.2 The accompanying editorial by Ronald Cranford, which suggests that the rate of misdiagnosis is a new finding and that Andrews and colleagues' methods were questionable, merits critical comment.3

Aside from the implication that physicians who provide rehabilitative care are scientifically suspect, Cranford shows his inexperience in the neurorehabilitation of brain injured patients when he …