“There remain huge uncertainties in regard to Terri's true neurological status. I believe that, within a reasonable degree of medical certainty there is a great likelihood that Terri is in a minimally conscious state rather than a persistent vegetative state.”
Your response.
CRANFORD: Well actually if you read his report, he says she has no visual tracking and she has no conscious awareness which are the cardinal signs of the vegetative state, so I don't think there's any doubt she's in a vegetative state. He never examined her.
(Ooops, opinion from someone who has never examined her. Great medical evidence of brain activity.)
"He did an interview with her for 90 minutes, observing her. He never viewed her CT scans. He makes no mention of her EEG, so while he's a reputable neurologist, perhaps, at the Mayo Clinic, his report means absolutely nothing. It's a desperation, last minute move by the governor who just doesn't know what else to do, so he brings in a Christian fundamentalist neurologist. It's just not true."
ABRAMS: [injecting drama] I feel for the parents here and I'm going to play a sound bite...
CRANFORD: [truthfully] So do I.
ABRAMS: [injecting more drama] I want you to listen to [the blinded by emotion word of a parent] it and just tell me if it's even medically possible that this is the case.
[Video] SCHINDLER: [injecting drama] She's alive and she's fighting like hell to live, and she's begging for help. She's still communicating, still responding. She's emaciated, but she's responsive.
ABRAMS: Doctor, I mean you hate to say it but that's just a father wishful thinking, isn't it?
CRANFORD: [stating from experience] I hate to say it but it's a father wishful thinking. These are sincere caring people. I think the Schindlers as opposed to the right to life activists and the president and Congress and all the others, I think they really believe that she's interacting. They really believe she's been denied medical care, and I think about sympathizes with their concerns.
"This is a loving, caring family but they're wrong. And they've known they've been wrong. She's been diagnosed a vegetative state ever since the early 1990s. They were told that repeatedly in the early 1990s. It's wishful thinking on the part of parents who dearly love their daughter and don't want her to be in the vegetative state she's in. But Dan, there's really no doubt whatsoever."
"No credible [<-note] neurologist has come along who's examined her who's said she's not in a vegetative state. It's just what they want to see. And you can see how scary the tapes are that show her apparently interacting with her eyes open. But her eyes are open, but she's not even looking at her mother when you look at those tapes."
ABRAMS: Let's talk about the CT scan. You actually have the CT scan.
CRANFORD: Yes, this is a CT scan of Terri Schiavo taken in 2002, the most recent CT scan done on her, 2002.
ABRAMS: Tell us what it means.
CRANFORD: Well it shows extremely severe atrophy. Where those black areas are, that should be white. That should be cerebral cortex, and so really there is no cerebral cortex left. It's just a shrinkage of the cerebral cortex. It's a thin band of white on the outside and any neurologist or any radiologist looking at those CT scans will tell you that her atrophy could not be more severe than it is. So even if she were mentally conscious, which she's not, she's irreversible. She's been like this for 15 years, Dan, and that CT scan shows the most extreme severe atrophy of the higher centers of the brain.
ABRAMS: And what about those who say that there should have been more tests? That she's never had a PET scan. That she needs another MRI.
CRANFORD: Well she doesn't need an MRI because a MRI will not show any more damage than this C.T. and you can again check with any radiologists. They'll tell you this CT scan is more than adequate.
But, heck, all you intrnet docs are right, he's wrong, the missing brain is just hiding, etc. Believe what you want. I'll stick with the truth.
***"He did an interview with her for 90 minutes, observing her. He never viewed her CT scans. He makes no mention of her EEG, so while he's a reputable neurologist, perhaps, at the Mayo Clinic, his report means absolutely nothing. It's a desperation, last minute move by the governor who just doesn't know what else to do, so he brings in a Christian fundamentalist neurologist. It's just not true."
You can tell he didn't read the affidavit. Even I know more than he does. DR. Cheshire said he read all her medical records (I would assume that means the CT scan & EEG). He observed her and watched the video tapes. Cranford's sentence "Christian fundamentalist neurologist" says it all. HIS Bias is showing. Dr. Cranford, Humane Death Dr., is one to be talking. I would say someone working for the MAYO Clinic is more qualified than yahoo Cranford.