Pinellas County Medical Examiner:
" Wow. This was so easy. I kept the Schindlers' observer away from the post
and simply used Terri's official Pinellas County Autopsy report
which Judge Greer gave me last week after he defied the Executive and Legislative branches.
Let me assure you that Judge Greer's report
which was written BEFORE we burnt all the evidence
says absolutely positively nothing about abuse.
Everything was normal. Honest. [wink]"
Now, Dr. Walker....
Q The report goes on to say, "The
10 presumption is that the other multiple areas of
11 abnormal activity also relate to previous trauma."
12 A That's what it says.
13 Q And, again, that's based on the fact that
14 Dr. Carnahan is a rehab physician, that you were
15 asked to evaluate for trauma?
16 A And the pattern of activity is fairly
17 typical of multiple traumatic injuries of relatively
18 recent origin.
19 Q I realize you can't assign a cause to
20 these injuries that you picked up in this report.
21 But typically in your experience, what would be the
22 causes of this pattern of abnormality?
23 A In somebody her age, an auto accident is
24 by far the most typical cause.
25 Q Assume that she was not in an auto
P- 29
1 accident but that she had suffered an anoxic or
2 hypoxic encephalopathy type of injury from a cardiac
3 arrest and had been bedridden for a year at this
4 point. What might account for these abnormalities?
5 A In my knowledge, that type of injury.
6 would not account for this pattern of abnormalities.
How did Walker hold up on cross exam?
Walker.........A fracture occurs in a single moment of time, and then hopefully it's treated and heals.
10 Whereas other things that give rise to abnormal bone scans may be metabolic, for example, and they're an ongoing process that don't stop. And if that process doesn't stop, the bone scan may be abnormal forever. (In other words it doesn't have to be a trauma event)
Q I think you mentioned that you had no personal recollection of dictating this particular report. Is that right?
A That's correct.
Q And you didn't sign the report?
A I don't see my signature on this copy, no.
Q Okay. Do you have any way of knowing how the compression fracture at L1 occurred?
A No.
Q Is it possible that the abnormalities occurring on the bone scan with respect to the fracture of L1, the compressions fracture of L1 -- could that have occurred when the patient -- or if the patient fell onto the floor from a standing position?
A That's possible.
Q You mentioned that the report indicates multiple bilateral rib abnormalities and that that was not consistent with heterotrophic ossification. Is that right?
A I mentioned that in this deposition, yes, but not in the report.
Q Okay. Were you looking for heterotrophic ossification when you read the bone scan and the radiographs? Do you know?
A I think that's in our mind when we see a rehabilitation patient because we don't know from the history how old the injury was. And, of course, heterotrophic bone is something that occurs particularly in people who are immobilized for long periods of time. So that would be something that we would mention were we to see a typical pattern for that, yes.
Q Okay. The abnormalities in the multiple bilateral ribs, could that have occurred during an attempt at resuscitation by the paramedics or hospital staff?
A A vigorous resuscitation could do that, yes.
Q Do you know Dr. Donald Durrance?
A Yes, I do.
Q Do you know what kind of a physician he is?
A He's a diagnostic radiologist with a specialty in neuroradiology.
Q His report indicates there that his impression is "no evidence of fracture"?
A That would be what it says, yes.
Q What do you understand that to mean?
A It means he didn't see an alteration of the radiographic anatomy that would suggest thatthere was a broken bone there.
Q Are you familiar with Dr. Ricciardello?
A I am.
Q What kind of a physician is he?
A He's also a diagnostic radiologist with a specialty in neuroradiology.
Q And his report indicates, as far as the left knee conclusion, "no acute injury," and right knee conclusion, "no acute injury."
A Correct.
Q Do you have any thoughts on whether or not Dr. Carnahan's affidavit is consistent or inconsistent with your review of the bone scan and radiographic
A ... My response would be that this is outside my area of expertise. So I wouldn't be able to comment on it.
Why should Walker be believed any more than the other who didn't see what he clamed to have seen on a report nobody knows who signed it?
http://www.hospicepatients.org/dr-walker-t-schiavo-bone-scan-deposition.txt
Thanks for posting that. It's a keeper. Hopefully one day, it will hang him.
