Even though many people would love to pin this on the evil Mr. Schiavo, it's not quite as simple as that.
An MRI was never recommended because, in this case and other patients in a permanent vegetative state, the CT scans were more than adequate to demonstrate the extremely severe atrophy of the cerebral hemispheres, and an MRI would add nothing of significance to what we see on the CT scans. Plus the MRI is contraindicated because of the intrathalamic stimulators implanted in Terri's brain. A PET scan was never done in this case because it was never needed. The classic clinical signs on examination, the CT scans, and the flat EEG's were more than adequate to diagnose PVS to the highest degree of medical certainty, along with the credible testimony of the three neurologists at the longest evidentiary hearing in American law, whose opinions were strongly affirmed by the trial court judge and three appeal court judges. Please see Judge Greer's opinions on the credibility of the experts testifying on behalf of the Schindler family.
In addition, the only PET scan center in the country I would trust right now for doing the PET scan for the determination of PVS is New York-Cornell Medical Center with Niko Schiff. There are other PET scan centers in the US (such as in Miami and Atlanta which I contacted in 2002 as to the feasibility of doing a PET scan at these centers), but the only one doing top quality work with the precision necessary for PVS is the one in New York.
I do not believe there are "a number of other prominent members of your field" who feel these other tests should be done, because these "other prominent members" are physicians with strong conservative credentials who obviously don't know the facts of the case, and some of these physicians have "credentials" similar to Dr. Maxfield and Dr. Hammesfahr (the "HBO and vasodilator experts"). Where were these physicians earlier in the case when they could have examined Terri and testified at trial on behalf of the Schindler family, instead of the two doctors whom Judge Greer found not very credible?
The calls for new tests on Terri are nothing more than one of several last minute desperation moves by the Schindlers and their supporters to delay the withdrawal of the feeding tube from Terri. There has never been a more extensively litigated case in the history of right to die cases in terms of the length of the entire litigation itself, and the extensive medical testimony during the elaborate evidentiary hearing of 2002, and the thorough review of this medical tesimony by the appeals court.
Look pal, I called you on this crap already. For the record, you declined to answer.
I understand that the very doctor who implanted those stimulators urged Michael Schiavo to have them removed. Michael Schiavo never did so.
The classic clinical signs on examination, the CT scans, and the flat EEG's were more than adequate to diagnose PVS to the highest degree of medical certainty
It is absolutely false to claim that there is "the highest degree of medical certainty" in that diagnosis.
Dr. William Hammesfahr, who spent by far the most hours with Terri in making his diagnosis, disagrees strongly.
So do dozens of other respected neurologists who haven't been able to examine Terri in person, because Schiavo hasn't permitted it.
So, how long would it take for those tests? They could have already been run, even without the feeding tube, and we'd have an answer by now. Just why hasn't the court ordered these tests be taken?