Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Schiavo autopsy results to be released Wednesday
ABC Action News ^ | 6/14/05

Posted on 06/14/2005 10:16:07 AM PDT by areafiftyone

LARGO - The long-awaited results from Terri Schiavo's autopsy will be released Wednesday morning, Pinellas County officials announced today.

The brain-damaged woman died at her Pinellas Park hospice on March 31, two weeks after the removal of her feeding tube. During the course of the legal battle, allegations surfaced that Michael Schiavo abused Terri. Those complaints had previously been dismissed in court, but the autopsy is expected to settle that question for good.

The autopsy is also expected to reveal what condition Terri was actually in when she died. Her parents insisted that she was minimally conscious, but most medical experts agreed that her apparent responses were involuntary movements.

The autopsy was performed by Dr. Jon Thogmartin, the Pinellas-Pasco medical examiner. He is expected to talk at the 11 a.m. press conference Wednesday.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: autopsy; schiavoautopsy; schiavomeddocautopsy; terri; terrischiavo
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100 ... 181-184 next last
To: Ryan Tiger

Thats okay you didn't know. I am disgusted at them myself. This is bizarre. I guess you can add keywords to any post. I guess the coward who did it didn't want to fess up. Well hopefully the Admin Moderator saw my post and will delete them.


61 posted on 06/14/2005 7:16:08 PM PDT by areafiftyone (Politicians Are Like Diapers, Both Need To Be Changed Often And For The Same Reason!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 59 | View Replies]

To: Dante3
Hi, Dante3

Mark Furhman Investigates Terri Schiavo's Death - (many facts still unrevealed about Schiavo) -- http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1422235/posts

62 posted on 06/14/2005 8:04:11 PM PDT by cyn (it's sarcasm, but jim king really said it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: areafiftyone

I had hoped that with all the media scrutiny, that the autopsy couldn't be anything but clean. But the media has a short attention span, and there are so many other stories competing for people's attention...so we will see, I guess.


63 posted on 06/14/2005 8:09:27 PM PDT by proud American in Canada (Please check out my new & improved profile page!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cyn

Thanks!


64 posted on 06/15/2005 3:31:30 AM PDT by Dante3
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 62 | View Replies]

To: All

Will Autopsy Report Make "Outlandish" Claims?

by Fr. Rob Johansen, June 15, 2005

As the previous entry reports, the long-awaited autopsy results for Terri Schiavo will be released later today.

Pinellas County Medical Examiner Jon R. Thogmartin will hold a press conference on the autopsy report at 11:00 AM Wednesday.

What the report will conclude is not yet known, but the Schindler family and many supporters of Terri's right to live hope the autopsy will provide clues regarding the cause of the cardiac arrest which led to her anoxic brain injury in 1990. They also hope that the autopsy will provide evidence of the abuse of which they have accused Michael Schiavo.

I am not terribly optimistic that the autopsy will provide evidence of either the cause of Terri's cardiac arrest or any abuse. I think there was simply too much time between Terri's injury(ies) and her death for any such evidence to still be detectable.

What I am most interested to see is whether or not, as Michael Schiavo and his attorney George Felos hope, the M.E. purports to draw any conclusions regarding whether Terri was in a PVS (Persistent Vegetative State).

As many readers will recall, when George Felos announced that Michael would "permit" an autopsy (the matter was later shown to be completely out of his hands), he said that Michael wanted "definitive proof showing the extent of her brain damage".

Of course, as I pointed out back then, an autopsy cannot possibly "prove" whether Terri was PVS or not. Indeed, Dr. Bernardine Healy, a former Director of the National Institutes of Health and medical columnist for U.S. News & World Report, responded to Felos' announcement, in an appearance on MSNBC, by pointing out that an autopsy can tell us nothing about Terri's neurological function. She lamented the surreal reasoning by which Michael would permit an autopsy when Terri was dead, but refused the medical tests that could assess Terri's brain function while she was still alive.

The inability of an autopsy to retrospectively diagnose PVS did not stop some "talking heads" on cable news shows from offering ill-informed speculation. One pathologist, appearing on Greta Van Sustern's "On The Record" (partial transcript), said that though a determination that Terri was PVS could not be made with 100% certainty, nonetheless an autopsy could confirm the extent of Terri's brain damage - her "loss of neurons" - and whether she was in fact in a PVS.

Neurologists react to statements such as the above with incredulity. Dr. Mack Jones, a Florida neurologist I interviewed for my National Review Online article "Starving For a Fair Diagnosis", characterized such claims as among "the most outlandish statement[s] that I have ever heard". He continued, saying:

Autopsy findings cannot diagnose PVS. I expect evidence of severe brain damage consistent with hypoxic - ischemic injury to the cerebrum with subsequent atrophy. These findings nor any other findings have no bearing on the diagnosis of "minimal consciousness" or PVS.

In a March 31 article at MedPage Today, Dr. Michael De Georgia, head of the neurology/neurosurgery intensive care unit at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, said that the PVS diagnosis "cannot be confirmed by autopsy." Dr. Mouhammed Kabbani, a neurologist at the University of Missouri, concurred with this evaluation, and added that an "autopsy can show the degree of brain damage and how much brain tissue survived the injury", but that "it cannot by any means tell about the patient's clinical status."

In the MedPage Today article, Harvard neuropathologist E. Tessa Hedley Whyte said that "the [pathologic examination of the] brain can't tell if there is a persistent vegetative state or not". But, unfortunately, that won't necessarily prevent excessive claims from being made. Dr. K.J. Oommen, Vice Director of Clinical Neuroscience at the Oklahoma University Medical Center, summed up the problem best, saying that "a pathologist can make such statements, because you cannot disprove them. The patient is already dead!"

While I don't know what the autopsy report will say, I'm going to go out on a limb here: I predict that the autopsy report will, in at least a tentative way, offer a conclusion that Terri was in a PVS. I say this for three reasons: Firstly (and perhaps this is just my cynicism coming out), it would fit the generally unfortunate and dishonest way that the rest of the Terri Schiavo saga has played out. Secondly, doctors with whom I have discussed the Schiavo case share my pessimistic outlook. Dr. Peter Morin, a Boston neurologist interviewed for my March 16 NRO article, said that he anticipated "gross overstatements regarding the implications of the neuropathology." Thirdly, this Philadelphia Inquirer article provides a hint of what is to come:

William A. Pellan, director of forensic investigations for the District Six Medical Examiner's Office in Largo, said the report would address whether Schiavo was in a persistent vegetative state.

There would be no point in mentioning the intent to "address" the issue of PVS if the report was not going to draw a conclusion on the matter. Furthermore, the autopsy cannot prove that Terri was not PVS. Thus it seems likely to me that the report will in some way be presented as "confirming" the diagnosis.

Such a conclusion would be in keeping with the way that various "memes" have governed the debate surrounding Terri Schiavo's fate. I discussed some of these memes in my article "The Death of Terri Schiavo", which appeared in the May 2005 issue (available online soon) of Catholic World Report. These memes, such as "9 (or 12 or 16) judges have all reviewed the case and found for Michael", and "all the doctors who examined Terri diagnosed her as PVS", were readily regurgitated by most of the MSM, as part of what Nat Hentoff described as the "disgracefully ignorant" coverage of Terri's case.

If, as I predict, the Medical Examiner's report offers anything approaching a "conclusion" that Terri was PVS, then George Felos, the "right-to-die" advocates, and their accomplices in the media elite will have the final meme, with which they can tie up the Terri Schiavo case in a nice, neat bow.

The Culture of Death will advance a little further, abetted by self-assured and willing acolytes.

http://thrownback.blogspot.com/


65 posted on 06/15/2005 4:38:06 AM PDT by amdgmary (Please visit www.terrisfight.org and www.theempirejournal.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 64 | View Replies]

To: areafiftyone

*BUMP*


66 posted on 06/15/2005 6:46:08 AM PDT by tiredoflaundry (I hate Hurricane Season!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: T'wit
They said they were honoring her wish but they took her money, they took her liberty, they took her life, they denied her a Christian burial and at the end, they hid her ashes.

This gives you a good idea of the kind of people the Schindlers are dealing with. I can't understand why anyone with a grain of sense would believe anything George Felos said. He's been quoted as saying, "the Schindlers continue to engage in a "smear campaign against Michael to deflect the real issues in the case, which were Terri's wishes and her medical condition." He hasn't a clue as to what Terri's wishes were. He showed what kind of scum he really is when he came out and lied about how peaceful Terri's death was. Being starved to death is not and could not be peaceful! To lie there for two weeks and be denied even an ice chip is extreme and inhumane treatment. Greer, Felos, Schiavo and his brothers who testified for him should be subjected to the same treatment. If they survived, I wonder if Felos would tell us how peaceful he felt. He and Greer should be disbarred and imprisoned IMO.

67 posted on 06/15/2005 7:22:57 AM PDT by PeskyOne
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 52 | View Replies]

To: amdgmary; AFPhys

Hi, amdgmary -- thanks for posting that. Autopsy -- examination of the brain tissue after death -- cannot indicate how that brain tissue functioned in life.

The guardian & his lawyers & the courts repeatedly refused requests for a functional MRI.

A previous CT / MRI thread contained an interesting commentary from many angles, incl. from one who had sufferered a brain injury that left a CT comparable to Terri's.


68 posted on 06/15/2005 7:32:44 AM PDT by cyn (it's sarcasm, but jim king really said it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 65 | View Replies]

To: floriduh voter; tutstar; amdgmary; Chocolate Rose; shezza; CindyDawg; Golden Gate; sweetliberty; ...
(musing) felos is artful. not sure why pinellas me ofc bit. guess we'll see.

link to coverage, 11 eastern, thanks to tut for link info:

LINK TO COVERAGE, thanks tutstar -- http://www.tampabays10.com/

69 posted on 06/15/2005 7:48:47 AM PDT by cyn (it's sarcasm, but jim king really said it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 68 | View Replies]

To: areafiftyone

There is an excellent column at www.blogsforterri.com about the pending release of the autopsy results.


70 posted on 06/15/2005 7:50:50 AM PDT by lastchance (Hug your babies.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: areafiftyone

There is an excellent column at www.blogsforterri.com about the pending release of the autopsy results.


71 posted on 06/15/2005 7:52:34 AM PDT by lastchance (Hug your babies.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

sorry to read this news story below the autopsy link, and prayers for all our soldiers and their families continue: http://www.tampabays10.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=14898

Local soldier dies saving others in Iraq / Army Specialist Stanley Lapinski

Citrus County, Florida - A Bay Area father is talking about his son who was killed in Iraq this weekend.

Army Specialist Stanley Lapinski died when a roadside bomb exploded next to his convoy Saturday in Baghdad. ...


72 posted on 06/15/2005 7:53:13 AM PDT by cyn (it's sarcasm, but jim king really said it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 69 | View Replies]

To: T'wit

How beautifully expressed.


73 posted on 06/15/2005 7:54:53 AM PDT by ClancyJ (McCain: "As far as the criticism is concerned, none of us care about public opinion.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 52 | View Replies]

To: Future Useless Eater

FYI!!!!


74 posted on 06/15/2005 7:57:27 AM PDT by Just mythoughts
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 51 | View Replies]

To: lastchance

Thank you. I am going to read it.


75 posted on 06/15/2005 7:58:50 AM PDT by areafiftyone (Politicians Are Like Diapers, Both Need To Be Changed Often And For The Same Reason!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 71 | View Replies]

To: ClancyJ
Thank you. It's very good of you to say so.

My older sister spoke only one word but said everything, in an infinitely sad whisper: "Barbaric!"

If Greer had heard her, it would have pierced his heart. But I don't believe he has ears to hear, nor do I believe he has the conscience to realize the evil he has done, not only to Terri, but to everyone.

76 posted on 06/15/2005 9:36:19 AM PDT by T'wit (My favorite bioethicists: Ted Bundy, Ed Gein, Jeffrey Dahmer, Ilse Koch, Pol Pot and Ronald Cranford)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 73 | View Replies]

To: PeskyOne
>> He hasn't a clue as to what Terri's wishes were.

No, he doesn't. He himself is the one infatuated with death.

77 posted on 06/15/2005 11:04:32 AM PDT by T'wit (My favorite bioethicists: Ted Bundy, Ed Gein, Jeffrey Dahmer, Ilse Koch, Pol Pot and Ronald Cranford)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 67 | View Replies]

To: Ryan Tiger
>> It makes you wonder what kind of people would post such things.

I think we can eliminate nice people, friendly people, courteous people, virtuous people, well-spoken people, moral people and grown-ups.

78 posted on 06/15/2005 11:35:41 AM PDT by T'wit (My favorite bioethicists: Ted Bundy, Ed Gein, Jeffrey Dahmer, Ilse Koch, Pol Pot and Ronald Cranford)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 59 | View Replies]

To: cyn; 8mmMauser; Future Useless Eater; amdgmary; Sun; Halls; Diva Betsy Ross; EternalVigilance; ...
This autopsy press conference thread is locked because of the rancor and insults flying. Let's not ruin this thread by fighting with trolls. Let's IGNORE THEM. Here's the locked link for viewing purposes only.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-backroom/1423304/posts?q=1&&page=951

79 posted on 06/15/2005 11:45:57 AM PDT by floriduh voter (www.terrisfight.org & www.conservative-spirit.org... The Schindlers "Never again.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 69 | View Replies]

To: T'wit; areafiftyone
You missed the fun at the now "locked presser thread". If you dare... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-backroom/1423304/posts?q=1&&page=951

(locked due to major backbiting and cuss words).

80 posted on 06/15/2005 11:47:37 AM PDT by floriduh voter (www.terrisfight.org & www.conservative-spirit.org... The Schindlers "Never again.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 51 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100 ... 181-184 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson