Joe Korp (Maria Korp's husband) is out on bail

Joe Korp, who stands accused of being involved in the atempted murder of his wife Maria, has been released on bail. The Australian continues to maintain his innocence, unfazed by the fact that his lover has pleaded guilty and is blaming him for talking her into trying to kill Mrs. Korp. Tania Herman, his lover, does of course have motives to involve him since she is plea-bargaining to provide evidence against him in exchange for leniency in her own case.

Recent articles regarding the Korp case state that Maria Korp's situation has been upgraded from a persistent to a permanent vegetative state and doctors argue that she has almost no chance of improvement.

Here are a few excerpts from various articles in Australian newspapers:



The Age says, "Melbourne Magistrates Court heard Mrs Korp was in a permanent vegetative state at The Alfred hospital. A document tendered to the court by her neurologist, Bruce Day, said her chances of recovery were almost non-existent. . . .

Mrs Korp, 50, is being fed through a tube, has spontaneous chewing movements, and yawns but does not speak or try to form words.

Mr Smith ruled Korp must not have contact his with his unconscious wife, his son or Mrs Korp's daughter.

The Herald Sun, says:

"[T]he mother of two remains in a coma.

It was revealed yesterday that Mrs Korp is not expected to recover from her vegetative state and that her neurological condition had deteriorated.

A recent procedure removing an air tube was to help her physical state only, and she remains at risk of infections and clots.

Her doctor, Dr Bruce Day, said in a medical report tendered to Melbourne Magistrates' Court that her condition should now be considered a permanent vegetative state.

He said such patients survived an average of two to five years, but much depended on decisions about whether to withdraw feeding tubes. Mrs Korp is breathing unassisted, but receives her nourishment through a tube.

Dr Day said Mrs Korp had spontaneous chewing movements, yawned, and made moaning noises, but there was no evidence she was aware of her surroundings. She does not respond to sounds or sights.

He said Mrs Korp's life remained at risk from medical complications, but the major factor in her survival was the provision of nourishment and water."
That article is annoying because first it says she was in a coma and then that the removal of her breathing tube was to help her physical state. Since she's not in a coma and the removal of the tube, according to other articles I've read, was done with the knowledge that it had a 50% chance of causing Mrs. Korp's death, this is a good example of some of the inaccuracies that can get propogated by careless reporting. They did make an interesting point though that Mrs. Korp's chances of living at this time are largely dependent on whether they decide to stop feeding and hydrating her or not.

The Courier-Mail says, "Mrs Korp has been in a coma since she was found in the boot four days after she was attacked, and medical experts told the court yesterday it was "extremely unlikely" that she would regain consciousness, adding that her life expectancy was only another two to five years."

The Daily Telegraph says, The court heard that despite Mrs Korp being able to breathe unaided since the removal of a tube, she was now in a permanent vegetative state with little chance of further recovery.

A report tendered to the court stated that such patients usually survive an average of 2-5 years.

Mr McArdle told the court it was "the most serious attempted murder you could possibly imagine".

A spokesman for the Office of the Public Advocate - appointed to make medical decisions for Mrs Korp - said she remained gravely ill and was not expected to recover.

"There are degenerative changes to her body," the spokesman said.

There are several points worthy of note here. For one thing, from following the news articles about Maria Korp it seems that since her injury she has progressed from a coma to a state of some form of wakefulness, whether she is aware at this point or not. She is not currently in a true coma, since she opens her eyes, vocalizes, and moves. For another, she progressed from needing assistance breathing to breathing on her own just in the past few days. So it certainly seems less than clear that her condition has even stabilized, much less that it can't be expected to continue changing.

Finally, as I discussed earlier, 3 months post-injury is far too early to make a firm diagnosis of permanence or to consider removing life-sustaining treatment--even in a non-traumatic injury such as Mrs. Korp's. The British Medical Association's current recommendation (along with many other organizations and study groups) is that no patient be judged permanent until at least a year has passed, and that patients should receive therapy and attempts to help them get better at least until that point.