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Giffords upgraded from critical to serious

US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' medical condition was upgraded from critical to serious yesterday, eight days after she was shot through the head by a gunman at close range.

Doctors said they upgraded Giffords' condition because she was no longer attached to a ventilator, having replaced a breathing tube in her throat with a tracheotomy tube inserted into her windpipe on Saturday.

"She is breathing on her own," said a statement released by the University Medical Center in Tucson. "Yesterday's procedures were successful and uneventful."

Doctors also have fitted Giffords with a feeding tube, a practice not uncommon for patients in intensive care with brain injuries.

Giffords, 40, had been the only patient in critical condition from a shooting last Saturday that left 12 other people wounded. Six more gunshot victims died in the rampage. One patient was discharged on Saturday, leaving two others hospitalized in good condition.

A 22-year-old college dropout, Jared Lee Loughner, was arrested for the shootings. He is charged with five federal counts, including the murder of a federal judge and the attempted assassination of Giffords.

The rampage sparked a national debate about whether the vitriolic tone of partisan politics in the United States in recent years had contributed to the suspect's motivations.

 

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