Posted on 04/01/2005 11:52:28 PM PST by FairOpinion
The amount of medical misinformation put out about Terri Schiavo has been truly stunning. The testimony of Terri’s physicians who believe that some recovery is possible has been largely dismissed. Judge Greer’s court and the media in turn, have focused only on the pessimistic interpretations of the raw data of her CT scan.
A physician at a credible physicians’ website has analyzed Terri’s CAT scan and concludes that it has been grossly misrepresented. There is some cerebral atrophy, but it is a completely inaccurate to characterize it as “bag of water.” Furthermore, the author states that
“the most alarming thing about this image, however, is that there certainly is cortex left. Granted, it is severely thinned, especially for Terri's age, but I would be nonplussed if you told me that this was a 75 year old female who was somewhat senile but fully functional, and I defy a radiologist anywhere to contest that.”
In one of the definitive court battles in 2002, five physicians examined Terri to determine if therapy would be of further benefit. Two chosen by Terri’s parents believed that she was not in a “persistent vegetative state” and that some recovery was possible. Two chosen by Michael Schiavo held that she had no chance of recovery, as did the “neutral” physician appointed by the court. This 3-2 decision was key in the 2003 attempt to pull her feeding tube.
One of Michael Schiavo’s medical experts was the right-to-die advocate Dr. Ronald Cranford, who has been an expert in a number other key court cases on our nation’s slippery slope to euthanasia, including those of Nancy Cruzan and Robert Wedlund. But Dr. Cranford has made serious errors in other cases when prognosticating about the prospects of neurological recovery. Frederica Mathewes-Green states that Sgt. David Mack, who was shot in the line of duty as a policeman, was diagnosed by Cranford as
"definitely...in a persistent vegetative state...never [to] regain cognitive, sapient functioning...never [to] be aware of his condition."
Twenty months after the shooting Mack woke up, and eventually regained nearly all his mental ability. When asked by a reporter how he felt, he spelled out on his letterboard, "Speechless!"
In fact, the entire field of diagnosing “persistent vegetative state” or “PVS” is fraught with inaccuracy. Recent studies have shown the rate of misdiagnosis to be as high as 37% or even 43%. PVS is a clinical diagnosis, meaning that it depends on the subjective judgment of the examining physician. Experts in the field cannot even agree on the usefulness of diagnostic imaging.
Dr. Ronald Cranford himself was upset about the articles showing the inaccuracy of diagnosis and prognostication about PVS. Childs and Mercer, authors of one of the studies citing the difficulties of diagnosing PVS, took Cranford to task for “zealously” promoting the concept of the "permanent vegetative state" despite the evidence of its problematic nature, and the regularity with which some patients recover from it .
The nomenclature of “persistent vegetative state” was coined in 1972 by Jennett and Plum in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet. The original article, “Persistent Vegetative State: A syndrome in search of a name” seems to have succeeded in its task as reclassifying severely cognitively disabled humans as non-persons - something akin to vegetables in the minds of many. Public perception of this highly-charged term predisposes many to dismiss the lives of human beings as no more significant than plant life. It is a brilliant, if chilling, masterstroke of propaganda, one which has been swallowed hook, line, and sinker.
This reclassification of non-terminally ill people has allowed for their dehydration and starvation deaths in Britain with a doctor’s recommendation, and in many states in the USA with the family’s wishes (or a patient’s own advance directives). The medical literature is rife with arrogant pronouncements in editorials of learned journals, such as life itself not being of “benefit” to someone in the PVS state. The echoes of current bioethics doublespeak resound in these journals.
In some respects the “persistent vegetative state” is more a political than a medical diagnosis, as it allows its unfortunate victims to lose their right to life and be medically killed through withholding food and water. It is unfortunate that some of the experts on the side of the Culture of Death seem to have had the upper hand in Terri’s fight, and have been portrayed by the media as reasonable and responsible members of the medical profession, rather than the zealots which, in fact, some of their own medical colleagues have branded them.
Far be it from me to confuse you with facts. For the record, as I said, I know this Judge, for over 30 years, long before he became a judge, so have followed his career - hence, familiar with this case. (And Robert's last name is spelled with an "a" = Wendland. Out of respect, we should spell his name correctly?)
But for others reading this and interested in knowing the VERY similar circumstances with Wendland and Terri's case - except for the Judges decisions - I post just a smidgen of the newspaper reports and at the bottom, one of the sights that will give readers all the similarities, linking it with Terri's struggle.
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Articles: "The case went to trial before Superior Court Judge Bob McNatt in October 1997 and lasted until December 9, when the judge dismissed the case. Judge McNatt concluded that he found "no basis in California law to terminate treatment for a person in Wendland's medical condition," the Bee reported. "If I have to choose life and death based on the evidence presented to me, I must err on the side of caution and choose life," McNatt said in court, according to the Associated Press.
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July 18, 2001 MAURA DOLAN, TIMES LEGAL AFFAIRS WRITER SAN FRANCISCO -- A severely disabled man who is the subject of a closely watched right-to-die case before the California Supreme Court died of pneumonia Tuesday, family lawyers and a hospital official said. Robert Wendland, 49, who suffered brain damage in a car accident in 1993, died at 2:40 p.m. at Lodi Memorial Hospital, according to a hospital official. Wendland's mother, Florence Wendland, who had for years prevented his wife, Rose, from removing his feeding and hydration tube, was with him. Lawrence Nelson, an attorney for Wendland's wife, said Wendland had been suffering from pneumonia for four to five weeks. Antibiotics were administered for a while, but they were not effective, Nelson said. "He was given all appropriate medical treatment and care," Nelson said. Rose Wendland, 44, called her husband's death "peaceful, dignified, and unmarred by pain or suffering." "Today his right to live free of tubes and medicines that could not really make him better has finally been made real," she said in a statement. "But it had taken way too long for this to happen." The Wendland case has been watched nationally because it could expand the powers of conservators to allow loved ones to die. Previously, courts have permitted the removal of feeding tubes only from patients who were terminally ill or in a vegetative state. Robert Wendland was different. Doctors had testified that he could have lived for decades as long as he survived lung and urinary tract infections that periodically plague patients in his condition. During arguments in May, the California Supreme Court appeared reluctant to allow Rose Wendland to remove his feeding and hydration tube. The court was expected to issue its decision this summer. The court now could either drop the case or rule on it anyway to clarify the law for families in similar circumstances. At some point during his illness, Rose Wendland "made the decision that aggressive treatment was not in his interest, and he was kept comfortable," Nelson said. Robert Wendland died only minutes before a lawyer for his mother filed an emergency petition with the state high court asking that a doctor of her choice be allowed to examine him. Two lower courts had already rejected similar petitions. Since 1995, Rose and Florence Wendland have been on opposing sides in courtroom battles over Robert. Rose, Robert's legal conservator, and her three children said Robert would have wanted to die in his condition. Florence Wendland insisted that he would have opted for life. Doctors considered Robert Wendland minimally conscious. He could not eat, drink, walk or talk, but he could respond to simple commands. He could not communicate his wishes, and no one knew for certain his level of awareness. His wife and children said he never recognized them after the accident or communicated any ability to understand his surroundings. His mother said he would kiss her hand and cry during visits. Janie Hickok Siess, who represents Wendland's mother, complained that his wife had instructed hospital officials not to disclose Robert's condition to his mother. But Florence Wendland, 78, became alarmed when she noticed he was having trouble breathing during a visit. He became progressively worse, and she decided to go to court to ask that she be informed of his condition and that he be examined by a doctor of her choice. A Superior Court in Stockton turned her down last week. Tuesday morning, the 3rd District Court of Appeal rejected her petition on the grounds that she should have filed it with the California Supreme Court. Siess was in tears after learning that Wendland had died. "I was filing papers with the court, but I wasn't fast enough," she said. Siess said Florence Wendland described her son as breathing so hard during his last moments that his body shook. The lawyer also said Florence Wendland has requested an autopsy. Florence Wendland had visited Robert regularly since his accident. Rose Wendland and her children had visited only sporadically since 1996. Rose, her children and one of Robert's brothers had long contended that Wendland had been estranged from his mother and wanted nothing to do with her. In her statement Tuesday, Rose Wendland referred to her mother-in-law and other family members as "relatives he did not love and with whom he did not share any kind of meaningful personal relationship." "I think it is tragic, ridiculous and ultimately disgusting that the law permitted these strangers to interfere in a decision that naturally and morally belongs to his close family, the persons who knew him the best and lived with him when he was still with us: me, Katie, Kerrie and Robbie," the Wendland children, she said. She said she lost her husband and her children lost their father "that day in September 1993 when he was so terribly hurt in that accident." Though Wendland's death was painful, Rose said she and her family were hurt "far more deeply" by the legal efforts to stop them from disconnecting her husband's life-sustaining tube. Rose Wendland praised Dr. Ronald Cranford, a Minnesota neurologist and bioethicist, for providing her with medical and moral advice during Robert's final days. Cranford, a consultant in several high-profile right-to-die cases, did not personally treat Wendland but advised doctors on his care. His presence at the hospital enraged some pro-life activists, who fired off a statement Tuesday denouncing his involvement. Nelson said Rose Wendland will decide soon whether to ask the California Supreme Court to drop the case or rule on it. Siess said she expects that the court will issue a decision as a way to help others in similar situations. "We don't know how many Robert Wendlands are out there," she said.
from: International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide
ROBERT WENDLAND DIES - July 17, 2001 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Robert Wendland died of pneumonia today (July 17, 2001). His mother was at his side. Neither his wife nor his children were. During the last several weeks of her son's life, Florence Wendland was not permitted to take him out of his room. She was denied all knowledge about the state of his health. She does not know if he was properly turned or how or whether he was treated for pneumonia. She did not even know what ailed him. She has been denied access to all medical records and all medical information about his care. Florence Wendland learned of the purported cause of his death via a press release sent out by Lawrence Nelson, Rose Wendland's attorney, which he issued after her son had died. The fight to save Robert Wendland from dehydration was not in vain. A dangerous legal precedent was avoided. The lives of other disabled people, whose names we will never know, may well have been saved. But this was merely a holding action. Unless we are able to convince society that disabled people like Robert Wendland have lives of equal moral worth, our society will continue to discount their humanity and brush off their deaths. In the meantime, as we mourn the loss of Robert, we can only send our most sincere condolences to Robert's mother, who stayed with him to the end, his sisters and brother, who were allied with her to save his life, and all of those who believed fervently in Robert's right to live his life fully as a disabled man.
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The above are only a smidgen of the articles and coverage on this case. Make no mistake, the DeathCrats are adamant in their crusade to take these decisions away from individuals and families. Mark my word, we will see a drive advocating that "due to the interference and conflict between family members, these decisions will be best left to the doctors, hospital "ethics" committees and the courts." - And if we allow that day to some, there will be wholesale murder of the "Inconvenients" - which may well include, down the road, you and me - our children and grandchildren...and Hitler will be laughing along with his inmates in Hell.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
For more on this case, covered in National news, Internet forums and TV - One of the sites, that also spells out the very real comparison's with Terri's struggle, is:
http://www.angelfire.com/ca7/robertsangels/
Everything in this tragedy SMELLS!
Terri breaking the standard two to five year life expectancy thing for folks in her condition is a spectacular feat ( and I know you were using sarcasm...as in...just one more weird aspect to this horrific, satanic drive to kill her )...
but Jack....
How can we FORGET that from the beasts own mouth at the malpractice trial..
(as saliva dripped from his fangs as dreams of big money banged around in his own cortex where there is a black hole far BIGGER than any injured space Terri possessed)......
that michael schiavo the death camp brigade's favorite torturer,
told the JURY in his own words, THAT TERRI HAD A LONG LIFE EXPECTANCY and he would love her until death and using the MONEY he was asking for to provide Terri with the THERAPIES she so needed to improve her quality of life!
ah yes!
THE MONSTER............OJ coupled with TWELVE YEARS of absolute terrorizing of Terri (the woman who WOULD NOT DIE)............is an American murderer and sadist of the worst sort.
What level of retardation are you talking about? Are you aware that retarded people range in ability from almost normal to no ability at all? Severely retarded people may NEVER show signs of being aware of their surroundings. The mental state in which they are born is the mental state in which they die. You almost never see them out in public, because most of them are confined to institutions. I've seen them because my mother worked at one of those institutions when I was a child. In the Terri videos, she showed far more awareness and understanding of her surroundings than many of the retarded I have seen.
(Would you advocate killing the more severely retarded, those whose abilities are comparable to or less than Terri's?)
As Freepers...we know a RAT when we SMELL one...
And if we can help GET JUSTICE for TERRI that the COURTS would NOT PROVIDE because they DENIED (get this ) EVERY SINGLE REQUEST TO INVESTIGATE MICHAEL as GUARDIAN....EVERY SINGLE REQUEST WAS DENIED BY ONE JUDGE....A judge who's BUDDY, the SHERIFF, Sheriff RICE...HIRED MICHALE TO BE THE JAIL NURSE, EVEN AS MICHAEL's CONCUBINE's (Jodi) own MOM worked in Rice's office for 16 years before she died at their home last year.
Michael terrorized her...let's WORK to help the Schindlers get the justice they were denied.
Help us.
The corruption in the county is so pervasive it makes the clintons' cronies look like a boy scout troop.
Arggh! I just fired off a reply to Dave S saying essentially the same thing! That's what I get for posting before reading all the replies first.
I take it you've spent at least some time around an institution for the retarded. I get the impression that some people supporting the murder of Terri think that hers is an extreme case, as far as disabilities go, and have no idea that plenty of people are born even less abled than she.
For the almost EXACT similarities, see my more detailed post in post #161.
As I said, I've known their judge for over 30 years, long before he even went into law - and have followed his career. This case was well followed in 1997 - but we didn't have FOX then! At the end of the 161 post, is a web site for detailed coverage and the comparisons with Terri's struggle. )Wendland's mother followed Terri's struggle with great empathy.
Judge McNatt is now the Presiding Judge in San Joaquin Superior Court - he would be a "supreme" choice for the SCOTUS - maybe we should all freep our reps and the White House and DeLay and everyone we can think of. We need Judges like Bobby to save countless millions in the future - one of whom could well be us - or our children or grandchildren.
for any who want to continue this fight = read also my post #161 - and also the web site I listed.
"Let's Roll!"
My thinking is on several aspects. If I become disabled like Terri, therapy will encourage the brain to heal. I would want conservative talk radio and the SciFi channel on TV played for me, since there is evidence that such stimulation would have a positive effect. I also know that new therapies will be developed that are not available now, and I'd like a chance to live until then. Even if improvement in the condition is not possible, it's highly unlikely that I'd be unhappy in that state--I have yet to see a profoundly retarded person who appeared miserable in their condition (it's the only life they know), even though I would not now choose such an existence.
Another aspect is that there often seems to be, in these cases, a relative who is more interested in the money than in the person's well-being. I want to make sure that any person advocating taking away any chance of recovery or improvement that I might have will NEVER benefit financially from it. I'd rather see my estate benefit a charity that I support than enrich a greedy relative.
One last thing, is that living wills have been twisted to justify killing a person who has become disabled. One story I saw linked to FreeRepublic involved a woman who had a stroke (I think) and became wheelchair bound. She had specified in a living will that she did not want her life prolonged in the case of a terminal illness, and her brother went to court and successfully argued that it meant that she would want to die if she were disabled. She was begging for food and water while being starved to death. You have to be very, very careful with a living will.
Exactly, that's why I'm going to keep hammering the point that those who support killing Terri on compassionate grounds, as if that's a legitimate argument are basically saying that all people of her mental capacity should be denied food and water till they die. And there are literally hundreds of thousands of severely handicapped individuals throughout the country as or less aware of their surroundings then Terri was.
Sounds like the wife in this case did the same thing and wrote the script for what finally happened in Florida in 2005 and leading up to that.
I don't.
As our President said...this case if FULL of complexities...and when you begin to understand what the Shindler's have been up against....it is IMPOSSIBLE to sit idly by and allow what constitutes a MURDER to happen....and not only a SIMPLE MURDER...but a murder of someone who got HUNGRY and THRISTY every single day.
Every single appeal made to Judge greer to investigate findings indicating wrong doing (terrorizing, imo) as Terri's guardian were DENIED.
The law said he was the guardian...and all else be damned.
And this LAW FAILED to protect someone who was so abused it makes my heartache.
Besides...what this sociopath did to Terri's family will impact me forever, because it was so breathtakingly cruel...there are no words to describe it.
Felos may think Terri looked beautiful as she became a raisen, dried to a pulp, suffering, hungry and thirsty, but his words have not fooled America.
Terri was terrorized beyond measure.
We will work to see that she gets justice.
NOT ALL GUARDIANS ARE EQUAL. Judge greer could have protected Terri, even as her death was planned.
But she was throw away.
NEVER AGAIN!
You would think a company would not pay out since, according to Greer's court , she chose to kill herself.
My guess is--- you haven't had a daughter get involved with an abuser. Or you wouldn't say that we feel superior.
Besides...what this sociopath did to Terri's family will impact me forever, because it was so breathtakingly cruel...there are no words to describe it.
He's not believable because he stated different things about Terri's wishes, saying at one point he didn't know what she wanted if in that situation. Well Mikey knew what he wanted: to be rid of her and to punish the parents. He's a shameful excuse of a human being.
bump
He plugged the cord into his own rictus.
The deliberate misrepresenation of my comment will not cause me to change it or explain it. Read it with it's ORIGINAL INTENT or don't comment.
Three?
Hmmmm? My understanding was there were 5 medical people who examined her. The parents chose 2 - Felos chose 2 - and the COURT APPOINTED ONE - who of course agreed with the Felos' choices. In a 3-2 decision - she was declared to be PVS.
These people knew how to work the system and it was stacked against Terri from the beginning.
And .. I agree - there has to be a law which says - NO WRITTEN STATEMENT - CANNOT PULL A FEEDING TUBE OR RESTRICT WATER INTAKE.
The people of FL will have to DEMAND THIS - NOW!
If they don't then there will be case after case of this forced death of innocents by starvation.
Indeed. In this case, it proves unambiguously the incompetance or dishonesty of the person who performed it.
I've worked with some electronic medical diagnostic equipment (cardiographic, not EEG, but similar principles). If a patient is moving around, the results are absolutely unreliable. If one takes a sample over the course of 30 seconds and the patient sneezes, it may be possible to filter out the noise by telling the unit to ignore about 5 seconds (2 seconds before and 3 seconds after the sneeze) and analyze the other 25, but to attempt to filter out the movement artifacts by varying gain or filter settings would be preposterous.
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