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At an assisted-living home, Vinit Shinde lay paralyzed in bed attempting to suck on a lollipop. One of his aides had positioned the phone so that Vinit’s brother and sister-in-law could see him. Eventually when the aide removed her hand from the stick holding the lollipop in Vinit’s mouth, he seemed to gag, trying to activate any muscles of his jaw, tongue, and throat to stop the lollipop from entering his throat or dropping out of his mouth.

In January 2018, Vinit suffered a severe and abrupt brain aneurysm at the age of 45. Multiple doctors deemed him to be in an extreme vegetative state, meaning that he did not have the typical brain function to exhibit mood or

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