Brain-Dead vs. “Brain-Dead”

Orac is discussing the case of Taran Francis, a patient diagnosed as brain-dead whose family wants kept on life support. Recently, the family has been getting support from some of us tubists.

On the one hand, this is apparently completely different from the Terris Schindler Schiavo case. Brain death is not the same as a Persistent Vegetative State. According to the reported diagnosis, the brain of Taran Francis is entirely gone, not merely shrunken.

On the other hand, in a world where apparently sane people would refer to Terri Schindler Schiavo as brain dead and in which a CAT scan showing a shrunken cerebral cortex would be offered as evidence that the cortex was entirely gone, are such reports believable? It may take a while for the medical profession to rebuild trust.