Posted on 04/01/2005 11:52:28 PM PST by FairOpinion
You're thinking of Cyril Wecht.
I have seen patients time after time outperforming the RADIOLOGISTS AND PHYSICIANS INTERPRETATION of their CAT scans.
This article seems to mirror the practice of most of the physicians I have worked with, in stating that PVS is subjective. In fact many physicians will not even use it as a diagnosis.
I knew an elderly patient, who walked (or shuffled) unaided especially to meals in a dining room without a reminder, talked in mumbled but purposeful fashion, was generally kind and cooperative. After he died an autospy revealed a brain so traumatized and distorted that his physician remarked that even his ability to be in a conscious state was a miracle. Yet he functioned with just moderate assistance for many years.
If she was bulimic her parents wouldn't have know till it was to late..Unless she went for treatment.
Look, if you want someone to kill you if you are ever disabled to the point where you cannot talk, put it in a living will and have it witnessed, signed, and notarized.
One of the appalling aspects of the Terri Schindler case was that there was NOT any such legal document, and the law (in the form of Judge Greer) presumed that the default action in such a situation should be to kill. This is a grotesque departure on what the law has been since the founding of our country.
Try googling Guardian Ad Litem Wolfson or Schiavo Wolfson
But regardless, I'm with Cherry, who said very succinctly in a previous post that it shouldn't matter if she is PVS or not.
So you believe regardless of someone's state and wishes that they can be kept as a "Chia Pet" for the benefit of others. Kind of sounds like slavery to me.
The fact that Felos himself personally lobbied aggressively for those changes around the same time he took on the Schiavo case should be a red flag for everyone.
So if the Schindlers had lobbied against this law that would have disqualified them from suing under it?
DO X-RAYS OR OTHER TESTS HELP IN DIAGNOSIS CEREBRAL PALSY?
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and Computed Tomography (CT) scans are often ordered when the physician suspects that the child has cerebral palsy.[snip]Children with normal scans may have severe cerebral palsy, and children with clearly abnormal scans occasionally appear totally normal or have only mild physical evidence of cerebral palsy.
WHAT MEDICAL PROBLEMS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH CEREBRAL PALSY?
Children with cerebral palsy have many problems, not all of them related to the brain injury. Most of these complications are nevertheless neurological. They include epilepsy, mental retardation, learning disabilities, and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder.
WHAT IS THE PROGNOSIS FOR THE CHILD WITH CEREBRAL PALSY?
It is even more difficult to make early predictions of speaking ability or mental ability than it is to predict motor function.
Let me explain this to you once and for all. The fact that Judge Greer didnt agree with your interpretation of Terr's state doesnt mean that he didnt consider other views. If there are two views and they are counter one another, you have to decide which evidence is more credible. The three docs that said PVS were more credible than the ones that said not so. Its quite conceivalbe that another judge hearing the same evidence would have made the same decision. When a "world reknown nobel nominated" quack is one of your experts, it doesnt do much to support the credibility of your case.
What were her wishes Dave? Are you saying we're supposed to take the word of a husband who changed his mind repeatedly as to what those wishes were?
And you haven't anwered my other question... are you now implying that mentally retarded people living in a worse vegetative state than Terri was are being kept alive as a "Chia Pet" for the benefit of others?
Yes and your url said nothing about scientology, just that his family moved to Florida, duh. By the way I agree with you that Scientology is a cult and when it breaks the law should be squashed.
Frankly Im surprised that your side isnt making more of his connection to Jim Morrison, after all one of his classics was "This is the end".
I reject the premise of your question. Any mentally retarded person would far exceed the capabilities of Terri Schiavo. Mentally retarded people are aware of their existence, they know what they want and dont want, and they likely know who their caregivers are. You cant honestly say that about Terri. You feel that she may be but your are not absolutely positive so you drape it in making a presumption for life.
You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about with that statement. There are varying degrees of mental retardation, some have low IQs with limited independent living skills while others are perpetually bedridden and completely unaware of their surroundings.
I've seen those videos of Terri and her brain was functioning, if only in a limited way.
Before you make such comments go to an institution for mentally handicapped people and get an education.
Speaking of ignorance...
Wolfson badly misused elementary logic when he wrote in his report (page 33)
Descartes addressed this in his proposition that it is our awareness, our consciousness that defines our being: "Cogito, ergo sum." This logic would imply that unless we are aware and conscious, we cease to be.
"I think, therefore, I am" in no way implies "I don't think, therefore, I am not."
The second statement is the inverse of the first, and inverse stements cannot be proven true from the truth of the original statement.
Statement: If p, then qInverse: If not p, then not q
Question. If Wolfson is not poor at logic, then whom is he attempting to deceive?
Ah, yes, Cranford. Who has publicly said PVS patients and Alzheimer's patients have no constitutional rights.
A few brain function tests, when Terri was still alive, might have supported your point somewhat.
But, alas, the tests were never run.
Sorry, but anyone who says that people who are PVS or have Alzheimers should not have consitutional rights are not credible one bit IMO!
OK, whats wrong with the other two other than you disagree with them? That still leaves it 2:1 in favor of pvs. Face it, you probably wouldnt care whether they all said she was in pvs. You dont think anyone has a right to die, that is perhaps unless they are a judge you disagree with.
Everyone has a right to die, that's my opinion anyway. In this case you're completely ignoring the fact we don't know what her wishes unless you want to take the word of a husband who repeatedly changed his mind.
They might have if the Schindlers had been willing to stipulate that they would drop their case and allow Terri to die if the tests proved Terri was in persistent vegatative state. Since they wouldnt, why bother? They wouldnt served any purpose? And what if there was still question following testing?
If Terri really had a flat EEG something was wrong with the EEG or the way it was done. My grandmother had two flat EEG's (the hospital would not rely on just one) after suffering a heart attack and being without oxygen for almost a half hour. Afterwards she never regained conciousness, opened her eyes only once but did not focus, had no arm or leg movement outside of spasms, relied totally on a respirator to breathe and other machines to maintain body functions. Terri appeared to be nothing like this.
A greedy husband, a lawyer obsessed with death and either a corrupt or incompetent judge helped execute an innocent, disabled women.
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