Posted on 06/19/2005 6:04:50 PM PDT by wagglebee
Dr. William Hammesfahr, nominated for a Nobel Prize for his work in Medicine, has been recognized by agents for Medicare, the federal government, and others for new approaches to helping the brain injured.
Dr. Hammesfahr has been identified in helping patients with chronic brain injuries from many causes actually leave long term disability, and return to work.
Dr. Hammesfahr was identified the first physician to restore deficits caused by stroke.
Dr. Hammesfahr has released the following statement in response to the autopsy report on Terri Schindler Schiavo:
We have seen a lot on the autopsy of Terri Schindler Schiavo in recent days, that I feel needs to be addressed. To ignore these comments will allow future 'Terri Schiavo's' to die needlessly after the wishes of clinicians and family are ignored.
Considering that there were so many physicians and therapists who were willing to step forward to treat Terri Schiavo, from university based practitioners to those in private practice, it clearly shows that the mainstream medical community across the board, those involved in treating patients, knew that they could help Terri.
The record must be set straight. As we noted in the press, there was no heart attack, or evident reason for this to have happened (and certainly not of Terri's making).
Unlike the constant drumbeat from the husband, his attorneys, and his doctors, the brain tissue was not dissolved, with a head of just spinal fluid. In fact, large areas were "relatively preserved."
The purpose of the therapies offered by so many, from major universities, brain injury centers, and from private practice physicians, is to improve and restore quality of life, and function, which the mainstream medical community clearly tried to get to her.
I have had a chance to look at Dr. Nelson's analysis of the brain tissue, and essentially, as a clinician, these are my thoughts.
The autopsy results confirmed my opinion and Dr. Maxfield's opinions, that the frontal areas of the brains, the areas that deal with awareness and cognition were relatively intact. To use Dr. Nelson's words, "relatively preserved." In fact, the relay areas from the frontal and front temporal regions of the brain, to the spinal cord and the brain stem, by way of the basal ganglia, were preserved, thus the evident responses which she was able to express to her family and to the clinicians seeing her or viewing her videotape. The Spect scan confirmed these areas were functional and not scar tissue, and that was apparently also confirmed on Dr. Nelson's review of the slides. Dr. Maxfield's estimates of retained brain weight were apparently accurate, although there may have been some loss of brain weight due to the last two weeks of dehydration.
Dr. Maxfield and myself both emphasized that she was a woman trapped in her body, similar to a child with cerebral palsy, and that was born out by the autopsy, showing greater injury in the motor and visual centers of the brain. Obviously, the pathologists comments that she could not see were not borne out by reality, and thus his assessment must represent sampling error. The videotapes clearly showed her seeing, and even Dr. Cranfoed, for the husband, commented to her that, when she could see the balloon, she could follow it with her eyes as per his request.
That she could not swallow was obviously not borne out by the reality that she was swallowing her saliva, about 1.5 liters per day of liquid, and the clinical swallowing tests done by Dr. Young and Dr. Carpenter. Thus, there appears to be some limitations to the clinical accuracy of an autopsy in evaluating function.
With respect to the issue of trauma, that certainly does not appear to be answered adequately. Some of the types of trauma that are suspected were not adequately evaluated in this assessment. Interestingly, both myself and at least one neurologist for the husband testified to the presence of neck injuries. The issue of a forensic evaluation for trauma, is highly specialized. Hence the wish of the family to have observers which was refused by the examiner.
Ultimately, based on the clinical evidence and the autopsy results, an aware woman was killed.
s/Dr. W. Hammesfahr
[Dr. Hammesfahr was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology in 1999. The Nomination was for work started in 1994. In 2000, this work resulted in approval for the first patent in history granted for the treatment of neurological diseases including coma, stroke, brain injury, cerebral palsy, hypoxic injuries and other neurovascular disorders with medications that restore blood flow to the brain. It was extended to treat successfully disabilities including ADD, ADHD, Dyslexia, Tourette's and Autism as well as behaviorally and emotionally disturbed children, seizures and severe migraines.]
And I will be honest- I have an agenda: I want the law that allowed Greer to kill Terri changed. There may be a judge who got such a case and was able to work within those laws. Someone who could determine an honest guardian without a conflict of interest.
But Greer is not one of those people- so the law needs to change so this does not happen again.
Felos needs to be looked at as well. Mark my words Felos will try this exact same thing again.
Reasonable given the circumstance.
How many medical examiners refuse to have an independent medical examiner present at the time of the autopsy?
That was a unreasonable, and perhaps unprofessional action to take, and certainly should draw some reasonable amount of suspicion.
How convenient the body was destroyed so no additional examinations could take place.
That is very unreasonable, given the circumstance, imo. A reasonable descision would have been to require that the body be kept for a period, in the reasonable possibility that future investigations might be aided by it. It was presumptive and premature to allow for its immediate disposal. IIRC -- an order of the murderer-Judge Greer. Also very reaonably a suspicious action.
How many incidents like this involve such incestuous relationships between the Sheriff's Office, the husband and the Courts involved?
Many counties in the country! I bet many have too close relationships between Sheriff and Court. It's a natural bond, cemented by all sorts of relationships professional and in some few cases -- corruptive relationships involving misuse of the Court's powers in estates, trusts and bakruptcies.
That's the way it works on these thread; sorry, pal.
"The Schindlers were financed"
I believe it was in the St. Pete Times, it was pointed out that it was one big happy family until her parents had econmic problems and when MS told them they couldn't get their hands on lawsuit money...well, he just wasn't the same son after that?
The thread is about her autopsy, which stated that she wasn't capable of what Nurse Carla said she was...Go read the transcripts from Hannity or any other talk show she could get on.
You all don't believe in the Autopsy. You all think there is something sinister behind it. What's left to discuss?
"There was clearly something wrong with Terri's neck as shown on the videos."
There was something wrong with her entire body in the video I saw. I would attribute it to her PVS and missing 50% of her brain. But, that's just my opinion.
Funny you all should pounce on the word attack. It was used quite frequently to describe her original failure - at one time everyone said it was a heart attack. Now they don't know what it was. I just used the word attack and did not even think of it the way you all have taken it. Must have it in your subconscious or something.
Why would you doubt the nurse and not the brother and sister in law?
Are we playing little word games now?
This subject is too important to our future to allow it being derailed by cute word games. So don't waste your time on it with me.
Terri is (under the LAW) an American citizen - not an animal. And, as an American citizen has constitutional rights of life, liberty... These rights are not over-ridden by "state of health" no matter how much many are trying to make such acceptable.
And, as a reminder, we also don't have the authority to decide when a person is worthy of death. Death comes on its own at its own time. We can "not prolong" the arriving death - but that does not give us the option to summon death at our bidding.
Great comments.
Of course you can. Our laws constantly make such distinctions.
Are you advocating that all removal of feeding tubes should be illegal under all circumstances, or only in circumstances when the PVS patients get on television?
NO. It was on big happy family till Michael decided no more therapy for Terri once he got the settlement money - better to spend the money on himself. What parent in the right mind would be ok with that?
How in the world did they convince a jury after her "heartattack" that this was negligence on the part of her attending physician. Who came up with that misdiagnosis?
The Nazis legalized killing disabled people against their will. Forced euthanasia is illegal here. That's not to say it isn't done. According to the advocates of forced euthanasia, it's done every day. Thousands of times per year. They say it's perfectly legal. At other times, they say forced euthanasia is illegal. It all depends on what point they're trying to make at the time.
There were a whole lot of lies being told. Even Father Pavone, who I am sure has made his confession, stretched the truth at the end to save Terri.
But then, I believe the autopsy.
We really do not know how Terri received her stiff neck. 's post
Apparently, her neck leaned to one side as it did in the video, as early as three months after her collapse and likely earlier (It was also mentioned in the ER report the evening of her collapse though the ER report is no longer on line) or did you not read DJ's post #267?
Let's see her attack occurred in Feb of 1990
Maybe that's how you normally describe someone who had cardiac arrest.
BTW, Doctors who attended her in the hospital have testified under oath she suffered cardiac arrest.
So, peach, you'd NEVER try to stop someone from committing suicide. After all -- suicidal persons are only saying that they "wouldn't want to be kept alive in their condition".
That's right. I wish I had that article; but I got rid of all my files a few months ago.
I only asked why you only mentioned Iyer and not the others. Don't be so touchy. It was strange to only reference one. Unless you didn't know there were more?
The thread is about her autopsy, which stated that she wasn't capable of what Nurse Carla said she was
Really? Where did it say that? It stated she was brain damaged. That was news? It also said PVS is a clinical diagnosis rather than a pathological one" and "nothing in the autopsy was "inconsistent" with a PVS diagnosis". In other words, you need a live brain for diagnosis, not a dead one. It starts on Pg 17.
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/06/15/schiavoreport.pdf
You all don't believe in the Autopsy.
How do you know what I believe?
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