Patients in a vegetative state are awake, not in a coma, but have no awareness because of severe brain damage.

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The case has highlighted the difficulties doctors face when trying to diagnose the level of consciousness of a patient in a coma-like state.

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He was in a coma and receiving treatment Friday at a hospital in Jammu, the winter capital of the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, according to Mr. Sehgal.

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Dr. Daniel Hanley, professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins Medicine, in Maryland, told CNN that VS is a coma-like state in which patients have a sleep and wake cycle, and can show reflex chewing, swallowing and blinking, but don't respond to language or stimulation.

CNN: Trapped 'coma' man: How was he misdiagnosed?