Replies

Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2003 3:25 AM
Subject: Re: Fw: [helpterri] Concern about Dr H - from another group

Dr. Hammesfahr has paid a huge price for volunteering literally hundreds of hours in the effort to help Terri.

George Felos, Michael's attorney, urged the Board of Medicine to dredge up some old complaints about him (and I do mean old) and start their administrative process. He was found not guilty on ALL of the medical issues (the administrative law judge, indeed, found his vasodilator treatment to be effective in the treatment of stroke, e.g.), but found him guilty on one count of a fee dispute with a patient.

The patient had paid the non-refundable fee for a five-day course of treatment, attended four days, did not attend the fifth day, and demanded ALL of her money back, even though she had received the benefit of 80% of the treatment regimen, in terms of time. (I don't know why she didn't go back for the fifth day's treatment.) Dr. Hammesfahr, unwisely, refused. The Board said he should have refunded the pro-rated fee for one day's treatment. This amounted to $500.

For this infraction, the Board lowered the boom. Florida is especially unfriendly to innovative medicine, and there is no question that his vasodilation therapy is innovative. (Although I have learned in the course of the Schiavo case that no less a presence than the Cleveland Clinic uses vasodilators in the treatment of migraines, as opposed to vasoconstrictors, and has done so for years.) Dr. Hammesfahr was ordered to pay about $55,000 in the Board's attorney's fees, community service, as well as to cease practicing medicine until he meets with the Probation Committee of the Board. The Probation Committee, so far, has found it inconvenient to meet with him, thus effectively suspending his license indefinitely.

The mention of the Nobel nomination in the e-mail is telling, as to Felos' involvement in this little vendetta. This is one of Felos' favorite arguments, and he tried, without skill or luck, to make his point last October during the evidentiary hearing. Congressman Bilirakis, who represents the north Clearwater area in the US House, nominated Dr. Hammesfahr for the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology in 1998, I believe. The letter of nomination is readily available. The Karolinska Institut, which awards the Nobel prizes, never confirms nominees, only the winners. On this basis -- and in spite of the Bilirakis nominating letter -- Felos disputes that Hammesfahr was a nominee.

In any event, Judge Greer was ruling against the Schindlers long before Dr. Hammesfahr offered his expertise in the spring of 2001 in the effort to save Terri. In fact, he came forward as a result of the publicity surrounding her first near-death experience in April of that year, at the urging of his own staff.

I don't know where this e-mail was posted, but you have my permission to post this e-mail to you on that message board and to otherwise disseminate this information. Dr. Hammesfahr is a compassionate and skilled physician, who has been wickedly attacked for simply coming forward to help. He is a graduate of the medical school at Northwestern University in Chicago and did his internship and residencies at the Medical College of Virginia. A slacker he is not.

Having seen his vasodilation therapy work on my own elderly father, I am of the belief that he WILL win the Nobel one day....probably when he's 75 years old!

Pat Anderson
Schindler family attorney

Thank you for posting that PC. I seem to recollect that the it was Felos who had caused Dr, Hammersfahr's credibility to be at issue.

I think that are focus needs to remain on the corruption and on looking into Felos, MS and the doctors and Greer. I fear that looking this up may just be to take us off of that track!

MCD

But thanks for posting that! It just goes along with what I believe saveterri may have been attempting to do!

MCD

I agree with about saveterri too. It was clear to me who he was and what he was trying to do.

Thanks for the detailed info that nobody else has put up here, as far as I can see. It looks like the medical 'court' spent $50,000 worth of time (socking the whole bill to Dr. H) to fix $500 worth of trouble.