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.]
I wasn't certain if you knew as a lot was going on all at once. :)
I'm in Tallahassee. Tell me who the doctor is and I'll file a report.
That makes sense. The only problem was they never gave her the chance.
Sure, follow me around. You might learn something.
Sorry, it was all overturned in his favor. That makes it reputable I guess.
All you have to do is prove it. So far, you are a dime a dozen.
Do you deny that he fraudulently claimed on his own Web site to have been nominated for a Nobel prize?
15 years isn't a chance? Do you have any idea how many annual swallow tests she had?
I wish I could. I was never given a name. Conversations became vague when I stated my beliefs. I spoke to a hospice worker, whose name I have, and she said her boss Pat, and the doctor discussed it. I couldn't find out who "Pat" was either. Don't misunderstand, they were very nice but not very forthcoming with info.
They tried telling me that her cancer doctor (whose name I'm trying to remember) also said she had cancer. But he told us she was declared cancer free.
I have the name of the hospice worker I spoke with. Do you want that in freepmail?
It's been proven. And you know that. Post #14 and others.
Quackwatch http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Tests/tcd.html
2002 Trial Transcript
Multiple web sites investigating him
http://www.hnionline.com/nominating_letter_for_the_Nobel.htm
http://www.hnionline.com/nobel_prize_nomination.htm
Yes. Freepmail is fine.
This will all come out. My wife has been a Registered Nurse for 25 years. She has been employed in the medical insurance industry for 15 years as well.
She knows the policies of Medicare and Medicaid. She knows that what has transpired here with Terri Shiavo is nothing short of fraud and murder.
If you have questions just freepmail me and I'll have her respond to you. She'd be happy to try and answer any questions you have.
I think your mother is a lucky woman to have you looking out for her best interests. God bless you.
Yes, I do deny that it was a fraud. If it is, do something about it.
Sent.
What's been proven? He beat your quackwatch in court.
That point is disputed. The mediplex records show a lot of comments to the effect that she made progress. But I don't mean to argue the point. She certainly didn't improve much, or make half as much progress as anyone would have wished. Perhaps that was the best reason for an experimental approach like hyperbaric oxygenation.
Two brief comments about Dr. H, then I'm outta here. One, perhaps he understood the request for documentation to refer his work with stroke victims. That's sheer speculation, but the court record may say something about it. Two, neither Dr. H nor I thought Terri was PVS.
Thank you for your courteous comments. I were close enough, I'd run over a carrot cake :-)
Yes, and the court saw no problem in spending it on layers fees. Sheesh...
Thank you. They know if I think they aren't doing the right thing, I'll be down there again. My sister lives there but works 80 hours a week. It's difficult to keep a watch on her. And now I don't trust them.
Well just go read the laws of Florida and see for yourself
http://flsenate.gov/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=Ch0765/ch0765.htm
765.309 Mercy killing or euthanasia not authorized; suicide distinguished.--
(1) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to condone, authorize, or approve mercy killing or euthanasia, or to permit any affirmative or deliberate act or omission to end life other than to permit the natural process of dying.
By the way - I don't read the Empire Journal. I look at the facts myself. It is pretty obvious what is going on in the Terri case - Michael and the courts killed her per the letter of the law as written with the input from End-of-life panel.
From unsourced information posted by mercyme on another thread.
Summary-
"In 1998, the florida legislature created the Florida Panel on End-of-Life Care for the purpose of revising the 765 statute for end-of-life issues. They were charged with coming up with the findings for changes in the law for the Florida legislature. Their findings were made law
Bill CB/CB/SB 2228, which revised the 765 as of October 1, 1999, also gave the authority to the End-to-Life panel to make findings for the legislature and that these findings were to made into law.
The legislature essentially gave them the authority to dictate to the legislature what changes to put in their bills. So the role of End-of-Life panel was not simply to make recommendations, but had the authority to determine what changes would be made into law.
The 765 law was revised in 1999 to include "end-stage condition" as a reason to withdraw life prolonging procedures along with persistant vegetative state and terminal illness. This was also put into law. Geldart also redefines terminal illness as not just conditions that cause death, but "irreversible" conditions or conditions "with no reasonable chance of recovery". Felos used this definition for the argument that Terri is terminal because she has a "irreversible" neurological condition with no "reasonable hope for recovery".
Geldart also details the the change in law that permitted nutrition and hydration to be considered medical treatment and the changes to life-prolonging procedures in the absence of advanced directives. Project Grace member William Leonard then points out a common scenario in Florida in his article: an elderly couple moves from out of state to Florida and then one spouse dies within a year 's time. Leonard then expands the definition of family to a neighbor, friend or caregiver who is now in the position of articulating the wishes of the elderly person to withdraw medical treatment, rather than "some distant relative".
And indeed the 765 law was changed to allow an "friend" to say that the person wanted life-pronging procedures withdrawn without a written directive. This also effected the outcome of Terri's case. Authors of Project Grace advocate for terminal sedation (Basta), withdraw of nutrition and hydration (Basta), and the refusal of physician to provide "futile" treatment as unethical even with advanced directive asking for treatments (Doty).
They also state that advanced directives providing for treatment should not carry the same weight as directives withdrawing care, and advanced directives should not compel the physican to provide them, regardless if the patient needs them (Doty). Doty is part of the Florida Bioethics Network as well as Project Grace. One of the changes in the law in CB/CB/SB 2228 includes the Bioethics Network as part of the process of withdrawing care. "
Hang on to her, there ain't to many of them around. : )
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