Maureen Miller
AC360° Writer

Imagine for 23 years, being trapped in a paralyzed body with no way to talk with your family and friends, who think you are in coma and then a persistent vegetative state. However, you can hear everything. You hear the doctors and nurses at your bedside. You also hear your family when they visit. You can feel their touch, but you can't talk. You can't let them know you love them. You can't even weep over your father's death when you're told the awful news.

That was the reality and nightmare for Rom Houben, now 46.

He was forced into a world of silence after a car accident in 1983.

Tonight, 360° M.D. Sanjay Gupta, who's a neurosurgeon, has the facts on this startling case. It seems to be more common that many people think.

Also tonight, we're Keeping them Honest on Capitol Hill.  Could the recommendations from a government health panel that most women wait until the age of 50 to get mammograms  find their way into law?

Just last week you may recall Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius spoke about the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a 16-member panel assembled by the agency, which made the recommendation.

"They do not set federal policy and they don't determine what services are covered by the federal government," Sebelius said.

"Keep doing what you have been doing for years - talk to your doctor about your individual history, ask questions, and make the decision that is right for you," she added.

But will the panel actually get to set federal policy, after all? We'll show you what we uncovered tonight on 360°.

We've have a remarkable panel of women who will be on the program tonight to weigh in on the debate over health care. You'll hear from Former HP CEO Carly Fiorina, who's slamming the mammogram guidelines. She's a breast cancer survivor and wonders if she'd be alive today if she followed those recommendations. Feminist pioneer Gloria Steinem, who's also a cancer survivor,  and  Dr. Bernadine Healy, the former head of the National Institutes of Health, will  also be on 360°.

Join us for these stories and much more starting at 10 p.m. ET. See you then!