Posted on 06/01/2006 3:25:42 PM PDT by lunarbicep
Neurologist Dr. Ronald Cranford, one of the nation's leading medical ethicists and right-to-die advocates, died Wednesday at a hospice in Edina, from complications of kidney cancer. He was 65.
Cranford was thrust into the public spotlight by the case of Terry Schiavo, a Florida woman he diagnosed in 2002 as being in an irreversible vegetative state. He defended his diagnosis throughout her husband's court battle to remove her feeding tube in 2005.
Cranford's daughter, Kristin Cranford of Long Beach, Calif, said her father was a "down to earth, easy going, non-pretentious man who told it like it was. He was extremely funny and witty and he will most be remembered by how generous he was, especially with his time."
Ronald Cranford graduated from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago in 1965. He served in the U.S. Air Force as a flight surgeon during the Vietnam War and came to Minnesota to complete his residency.
He practiced medicine for 35 years, most recently as a neurologist and clinical teacher at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis.
According to information provided by his family, he wrote more than 90 papers on subjects at the crossroads of medicine, law, and ethics, including determining brain death and when to stop food and water for patients who were permanently unconscious.
His wife, Candy Crawford, told the Star Tribune that although her husband spoke forcefully about his view on patient's rights, he did not support euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide.
Ronald Crawford is survived by his wife, sons Craig Losure and Michael Don Carlos; brother Tom Cranford and daughters Kristin and Robyn Moder. His daughters were holding his hands when he died, the family said.
More than they read the posts....Freeper on!
Seems to be the MO on this thread...
You said: Terri must be thoroughly enjoying heaven
And I said:
"You don't know that either. Just because she was brain dead, it does not automatically make her either a saint or a sinner."
What I meant by that is, if there is a heaven or a hell (which I personally do not believe in (at least I have not seen any evidence for such), you would have no clue which place she was in.
And this time I am gone for good. I do not plan to get into a Terri Shivo fight here on FR.
So have all of us. Thankfully, Jesus knew that, and died for each any every one of us.
If the shoe fits....
IMO, anyone who dares to defend what was done to Terry Schaivo better have the stones to put up with the wrath of those of us who condemn her murder by starvation. She was a helpless brain DAMAGED child of God.
"I heard a rabbi explain it like this. "If there is no breath, there is no life"
I wonder if the rabbi had this scripture in mind "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being" Gen 2:7
So when the breathing stops then life ends according to this verse.
That is always a wise course of action.
RA..we know you are there... you stated "What I meant by that is, if there is a heaven or a hell (which I personally do not believe in (at least I have not seen any evidence for such), you would have no clue which place she was in."
Here is a clue for you if you heed it my friend
"The fool has said in his heart there is no God" Psalm 14:1
Open your closed mind and see what revealing truths are in the Bible from wiser ones than we. The clues are all found there.
The article doesn't say whether he was starved to death, dehydrated, or outright poisoned. I mean, what were the "complications"?
You consider yourself in communication with the Almighty on what He will do with the doctor and you tell folks to get over themselves?
Some of you people are reading things I did not write and implying things I never said to justify your original incorrect assertions.
After further review, I guess killing helpless cripples gets rewarded in the afterlife.
I don't know what will happen to the doctor in the afterlife. Most here recognize that we cannot presume to speak for Him on the issue of judgments.
No fan of right-to-die advocates, but RIP.
I don't see where RA said that.
Open your closed mind and see what revealing truths are in the Bible from wiser ones than we. The clues are all found there.
I have no doubt which of the two of you has the open mind.
Good!
"I don't buy that for a second. She was brain dead and he reported such. If I were in his place, I would have done the same. Anything else would have been wrong and unethical."
You need to do some reading.
If Terri had been brain dead there never would have been any controversy at all.
Cranford never said Terri was brain dead. After a brief visit with her and looking at her CT scan he declared her pvs.
Problem is...pvs cannot be diagnosed from a CT scan. PVS can only be diagnosed over a period of time with the consensus of a team of experts from different fields along with support staff to take notes of possible responsiveness.
Terri's support staff was ignored, as were other experts who disagreed with the diagnosis.
Dr. Cranford once declared a police sergeant who had been shot as irreversibly pvs. He was wrong. The man is awake now and quite happy the judge did not put as much weight in Cranford's testimonoy as Greer did.
Brain death - non subjective, relatively easy to diagnose.
pvs - very subjective, experts cannot agree on a definition for diagnoses. over 48% rate of misdiagnosis.
"The article doesn't say whether he was starved to death, dehydrated, or outright poisoned. I mean, what were the "complications"?"
I'm guessing he was allowed a glass of water if he wanted it.
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.