Injury Report Prompted Schiavo Cremation Plans

Newsmax ^ | 3/28/05 | unknown

[beyond the sea]

Michael Schiavo decided to have his wife's body cremated after her parents' lawyers obtained medical records showing she had sustained broken bones, a nurse who cared for Terri Schiavo is now claiming.

"He wanted her cremated after the bone fractures and dislocations were found," nurse Carla Sauer Iyer, who cared for Terri in the mid-1990s while she was at the Palm Gardens Convalescent Center, told ABC Radio host Sean Hannity on Friday.

"He immediately went to court and [said he] wanted her body cremated at that time," she said, "after we got hold of the records that proved there were dislocations and fractures."

A 1991 report on a bone scan performed on Terri Schiavo states:

"There are an extensive number of focal abnormal areas ... These include: multiple bilateral ribs ... both sacroiliac joints ... both knees and both ankles."

Radiographs reveal "compression fractures" of the spine and right femur. ... "Compression fracture presumably traumatic," the report says.

Nurse Iyer said she recently contacted Palm Gardens to encourage co-workers who also cared for Terri to speak out - but said they have been muzzled.

"The administrator had gotten them together and they talked about what happened with Michael," Iyer told Hannity. "The people who have worked with Terri who are still there, they cannot talk to reporters - they would be terminated."

[Peach]

Freepmail

[Peach]

Thank you but one night I wasn't so calm and I hurt some people's feelings I think. I wasn't using harsh language or anything, but I was curt and trying to get people to answer some questions but went about it the wrong way, I guess.

[flaglady47]

"And the court testimony of those two doctors. It was sad. For the Schindlers. If they hadn't used alternative medicine doctors, one of whom advertises in the National Enquirer, and brought on mainstream doctors, maybe we wouldn't be here today."

Very interesting. I didn't know this. Can you tell me where to read up on this? Where did you find this out? It helps to explain things I already believe about the Schindlers anyhow. Glad you found this out. Need a little truth around these threads. Thanks. You can send the info privately, if you'd like.

[Peach]

This is the Wolfson Report, one of four guardian ad litems and trusted by both the Schindlers and Schiavos.

http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-backroom/1370047/posts?page=1264#1264



The only 2 doctors in the last 15 years (including 9 neurologists) who said she wasn't PVS after actually examining her in person were both alternative medicine docs hired by her parents:

- A radiologist, Maxwell(who couldn't accurately define PVS or distinguish it from coma in the trial)

- the neurologist, Hammesfahr, who said she wasn't PVS even before he examined her, and has very little credibility after his intentionally misleading claims of a number of things - like outright lying about being a Nobel prize nominee, for just one example. See below for more about this character.

---

When it comes to recovery, actually coma patients are much better off. They can wake up years later and have great recovery.

When someone comes out of a coma, but remains uncommunicative, the prognosis depends on the age of the patient, and what caused their injury. Children and those with traumatic head injuries have a better prognosis than those with an anoxic injury.

Patients who show no signs of consciousness after their eyes open usually fit the criteria for the vegetative state(VS). Persistent vegetative state (PVS) is a prognostic term that refers to a chronic condition in which basic arousal (i.e., wakefulness) and life-sustaining functions (e.g., respiration, blood pressure) are generally intact, despite the absence of behavioral signs of meaningful interaction with the environment. The American Academy of Neurology recently adopted the position that the VS should be termed "persistent" at 1 month, and considered "permanent" after 3 months following non traumatic causes of unconsciousness and after 12 months following traumatic injury [27]. However, rare exceptions to this have been cited. Merck
The longest documented is 3 years.

---

She didn't have a Heart Attack (MI).

Heart attack is myocardial infarction (MI). It can be diagnosed by measuring cardiac enzymes because they rise due to the destruction of heart muscle.

Cardiac arrest is a whole different thing, and it is diagnosed by the actual observance of the heartbeat. Her records clearly stated that she was in Cardiac Arrest, as Merck describes:

Absent or inadequate ventricular contraction that immediately results in systemic circulatory failure.

In ventricular fibrillation (VF), loss of coordinated global ventricular myocardial contraction leads to immediate loss of effective cardiac output, resulting in circulatory arrest. (Thus no oxygen to her brain) Although acute MI is often the underlying precipitant of VF in cardiac arrest, about 50% of victims have no evidence of MI on follow-up ECG and enzyme studies.

VF can also result from worsening of chronic ventricular arrhythmias (primary VF), low-voltage electric shock (110 to 220 volts for 2 to 3 sec), electrolyte imbalances (especially K* and Ca), hemolysis from freshwater near drowning, profound hypothermia (< 28° C [< 82.4° F]), and excessive sympathetic stimulation of ventricular myocardium sensitized by hypoxemia and vasoactive drugs (eg, dopamine, theophylline, epinephrine).--http://www.merck.com/

*K is potassium Ca is calcium. Low K, below 3.5, is called Hypokalemia.



Hammesfahr:
"World Renowned Nobel Prize Nominee" - He is neither of those things.
His reputation among his respectable peers is that of a quack and a fraud.
He has been confronted with this multiple times, and asked to cease and desist even by the congressman who wrote the letter! Yet, he dishonestly persists in claiming to hold that honor.

Upon what does he base this claim?

At the request of the VP of the Chiefs of Police group in Gulfport, FL, his local Congressman, Mike Bilirakis, wrote a letter asking them to consider him for a "Nobel Peace Prize in Medicine."

1. There there is no such thing as a "Peace Prize in Medicine"
2. Bilirakis is not even on the panel of people who can nominate anyone. Nor are Chiefs of Police.
( This is what it takes to nominate someone for the distinction he claims. )

Nevertheless, Dr Hammesfahr, who is an alternative medicine neurologist, continues to knowingly and fraudulently claim to be a Nobel Prize Nominee. He very recently pretended in a KGO radio interview to be surprised to discover that he wasn't an actual Nobel prize nominee, and unaware that his congressman's letter was meaningless.

But, he has been aware for years:

At the 2002 trial, he was asked to bring a the official letter of confirmation he claimed to have in his possession, along with everything else to support his claim. He claimed he forgot to bring it. The facts were very clear then as he was drilled on the subject - including his previous pretense that he would look into it.

He also said he just could not locate the records or remember names or details about the supposedly "numerous" people in Terri's condition he claims to have treated with success. No doubt, had he actually achieved the feat he claims he could achieve with Terri, he would have deserved a Nobel Prize. Too bad he forgot to tell anyone when or to whom he did it. "It" was impossible to get out of him under oath.
He would make Clinton proud. (I'll provide a link to the testimony Monday)

His claim that, if a patient can swallow saliva they do not need a feeding tube, is a lie. First of all, he knows Terri failed the swallowing tests taken in the first 3 years, while she was in the midst of good therapy. (The last one, after three years, said no more tests were necessary.) He also admitted on the stand that that swallowing saliva is very common even among PVS patients. Especially those whose heads tilt back like Terri's
(It is a common condition of neck spasticity called opisthotonus - a contraction of the neck muscles just like her other muscles - it goes along with her spasticity and seizures caused by the anoxic brain injury. I'll hunt down a link asap.)

His continual use of the "Terri had no heart attack" (he knows she had cardiac arrest), relies on peoples' ignorance of the difference to cast doubt on the cause of Terri's collapse. Once caught in that, he tried to say she didn't have cardiac arrest, because he doesn't think her heart "stopped". It didn't need to "stop".
This is all only part of the available evidence of his deceitful character. He's currently in the middle of a challenge to his medical license.

Even Glenn Beck, a major supporter of the Schindlers, ended his interview with him, apologizing to his audience for having him on, after he refused to be straightforward.
This "world renowned" doctor, who is listed at quackwatch.com and advertised in the National enquirer, has never published in any respected medical journal (check pubmed). He claims to have had his work "peer reviewed," yet the "peers" are a few friend$ who work with him. http://www.hnionline.com/results_peer_reviewed_and_publis.htm

His patent is merely the use of common vasodilators to increase blood flow to the brain. Though the medical community says it is hogwash, he gets away with it with the board by listing his treatment as experimental upfront. It has had anecdotal success in a certain segment of patients. The only thing close to a study he did was on whiplash and some other highly functional patients.
Yet, he touts this treatment as a cure-all for everything from ADD to PVS. He bases his claims of success treating ADD on his treatment of 2 adult sisters who said they improved after taking the pills along with doing other therapies that would improve them as well.

Here is a typical example of this man's deceitfulness. Remember - Terri, without doubt, had cardiac arrest (see above), which is different from a Heart Attack (MI). Cardiac arrest is 50% more likely to occur if potassium is as low as a 3.5 Terri's was a 2.0. Heart attack is a totally different thing. Keeping this in mind, read this section of a transcript

HAMMESFAHR: I'd like to go back to the potassium for a second, because he talked about the potassium and about the diet pills issue or some other drugs.

COLMES: Sure. Sure.

HAMMESFAHR: But the medical record clearly shows that there has never been a heart attack. Potassium causes damage by causing heart attacks, so we know the potassium is not an issue.
...
Right now we have a woman who had a collapse with no known cause. No evidence of infection, heart attack, respiratory failure or anything. The only thing found in the emergency room is a damaged neck.

Now, he is either totally clueless about common physiology, or he is making a concerted effort to deceive people into believing Michael strangled her.

I would also add, that if Hammesfahr only saw a stiff neck like Terri's in one patient, it only goes to more proof that he's lying about seeing many PVS patients - he never has brought forward any proof, though it was so critical he do so.

There was and is nothing about Terri's neck that was or is unexpected for anyone in her condition.

Quackwatch http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Tests/tcd.html
2002 Trial Transcript
Multiple web sites investigating him
http://www.hnionline.com/nominating_letter_for_the_Nobel.htm
http://www.hnionline.com/nobel_prize_nomination.htm

[Peach]

I meant to send that freepmail. Sorry.

[armymarinemom]

The people who have worked with Terri who are still there, they cannot talk to reporters

I would think that staff can't talk to reported without breaking the law. There are strict confidentiality laws out there that makes it hard to share any information on any patient. Heck I even had to get my sons Father in-law to give permission to the Red Cross in order to verify the death of my sons Mother in-law. The hospitals aren't allow to share any information due to laws that were legislated during the Clinton Administration.

[flaglady47]

Peach, this was fascinatig info. Thanks so much. I have forwarded this info to other interested family and friends. I knew the guy was a fraud, but didn't have too many details. Now I do, thanks to you. Toodles for now.

[Peach]

Toodles!

[UCANSEE2]

I don't know about any of that stuff. I know the hospice, like all or most hospices, is a non-profit.

Many non-profit organizations are dominated by overpaid management, overpaid Board of Directors, salary guarantees, lifetime full pension, lack of qualified staff, shortage of personnel to do a proper job, care, cleanliness.

They stick old folks in there, with minimal care, maybe none, until they die, and collect money, paid by Medicare, so they don't have to worry about slowpay,nopay.

The more patients, the better. Doctors on staff ready to certify just about any elderly that the family no longer wants to take care of, in a home situation, as terminally ill, whether they are or not.

Were it not for the attention right now, the condition of that hospice and many others might make you puke.

It is not something I blame on the Hospice, of the Greedy who run it. They flock to the glitter of gold.

It is us for allowing it. That is what we must face, as a nation. That is why Terri's case has caused such an uproar.

Some have sadly accepted it, for whatever rationalizations they have chosen to use, and some haven't.

[Peach]

Someone freepmailed me that they were very concerned with some of the hospices in Florida in general. Since I don't live there, I haven't read any news about that, but it sounded like he knew what he was talking about.

I've only heard good things about hospices, in general, but like any business, there are sure to be some vipers nests and people taking advantage of the sick and confused and frightened. ANd that's despicable.

[RGSpincich]

Where's the evidence? Court documents. Doctors who treated her at the hospital. Doctors who were sued and didn't catch her low potassium levels and bulimia.

Oh, that evidence....:~)

[beyond the sea]

This whole thing looks more and more like blatant murder and a public that has been duped into complacency by a biased media and some slick talking lawyers. MS can do and say anything now and it doesn't seem to matter. Terri has been thrown to the wolves and everyone is powerless to help her.

I smell Fahmy Malak .......................

Pinellas County, Fla. .........................Arkansas with palm trees.

[silverleaf]

http://www.hospicepatients.org/heidi-law-09-03-affidavit-re-terri-schiavo-michael.html

For starters.

Do more reading about the people who knew, were able to interact with, and loved Terri.

[ContraryMary]

The rumors about the broken bones, etc., were debunked a long time ago, Freepers notwithstanding. So you can say whatever you want to say, but that does not change the fact that Michael has requested an autopsy.

[Peach]

LOL.

Those pesky facts.

[UCANSEE2]

there are sure to be some vipers nests and people taking advantage of the sick and confused and frightened. ANd that's despicable.

And the Suncoast Hospice, by all the evidence available, seems to be the ANACONDA BREEDING GROUNDS of VIPER NESTS.

Mr. DEATH always gravitates to the FOULEST NESTS so HIS ACTIONS will go UNNOTICED.

That is why FELOS got onto the BOD of the HOSPICE in the first place.

[UCANSEE2]

The rumors about the broken bones, etc., were debunked a long time ago, Freepers notwithstanding. So you can say whatever you want to say, but that does not change the fact that Michael has requested an autopsy.

First, they are not rumors, they are medically true, and the information about them is available. The CT scan with the doctors description is available and I have posted it here before.

Michael did not request the autopsy.

The ME requested it. He let FELOS know he was going public with the fact he would request an autopsy based on the question of abuse as brought up by the evidence contained in those CT's and the public controversy over Terri's case.

Felos arranged a press conference for Michael for Michael to CLAIM the autopsy was his idea.

A TOTAL LIE.

The ME stating he would do an autopsy actually OFFICIALLY came out before Michael even said a word.

Please try to get your facts straight and quit quoting the latest lies from the MSM. They don't serve your end of the argument very well.

[ContraryMary]

Guess again. And quit making up stuff. Michael requested the autopsy, and the law does not mandate it. It says it is discretionary on the part of the medical examiner.

[UCANSEE2]

Second time you have called me , essentially, a liar, and yet you have not provided any proof to back it up.

Michael requested the autopsy, and the law does not mandate it. It says it is discretionary on the part of the medical examiner.

I will not call you a liar, based on your statement, because your statement is true. BUT, IT IS A SLICK WILLIE STATEMENT.

Michael did tell the press he requested an autopsy. After Felos informed him the ME was going to perform one. You just left that out of your end of the conversation. PROVE TO ME THAT THE ME did not declare he was doing an autopsy BEFORE MICHAEL made his statement to the press. Go right ahead.

[ContraryMary]

Prove to you that the M.E. did not order an autopsy before Michael requested it? You're the one who made the statement. You prove that he did. Otherwise, what you say is just an unsubstantiated rumor.