<P> There is limited evidence that the hypnotic drug zolpidem has an effect . The results of the few scientific studies that have been published so far on the effectiveness of zolpidem have been contradictory . </P> <P> In the United States, it is estimated that there may be between 15,000 and 40,000 patients who are in a persistent vegetative state, but due to poor nursing home records exact figures are hard to determine . </P> <P> The syndrome was first described in 1940 by Ernst Kretschmer who called it apallic syndrome . The term persistent vegetative state was coined in 1972 by Scottish spinal surgeon Bryan Jennett and American neurologist Fred Plum to describe a syndrome that seemed to have been made possible by medicine's increased capacities to keep patients' bodies alive . </P> <P> An ongoing debate exists as to how much care, if any, patients in a persistent vegetative state should receive in health systems plagued by limited resources . In a case before the New Jersey Superior Court, Betancourt v. Trinitas Hospital, a community hospital sought a ruling that dialysis and CPR for such a patient constitutes futile care . An American bioethicist, Jacob M. Appel, argued that any money spent treating PVS patients would be better spent on other patients with a higher likelihood of recovery . The patient died naturally prior to a decision in the case, resulting in the court finding the issue moot . </P>

Where did the term vegetative state come from