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.]
Thogmartin called her completely blind, but even Michael's Dr.Cranford admitted she tracked objects with her eyes.
I guess doctors examining a live patient in person can beat out a pathologist examining a corpse any day.
Flawed Autopsy Conclusions - ping
Good article in post #ONE!
...but wear your tall boots, and wade past the zot-bait from nay-sayers.
I heard an interview on the radio yesterday (Catholic EWTN), and someone said that the frontal part of Terri's brain was in tact - which means she KNEW what was going on.
The Monsignor who visited her regularly (who had a Polish background) said on one occasion, that he told Terri that he was going to say prayers in Polish this time, instead of English, and Terri LAUGHED. Doesn't sound like she was PVS to me.
"Dr. Hammesfahr’s careful use of vasodilators and his excellent results have resulted in a proposal for Nobel Prize nomination. This is extremely important information and its applications are synergistic with hyperbaric oxygen therapy."
Note: "a proposal for" a Nobel nomination, not an official nomination by the Nobel committee. It's still a great compliment to his work.
Dr. Hammesfahr participant in Hyperbaric Medicine Symposium, 2004
Looks someone let the dogs out a bit too soon on this doctor eh? Tee Hee...
Monsignor shared with us little anecdotes each time after visiting Terry, and how she reacted to his humor and how she tried her best to respond.
She kept trying even well after the tubes were removed.
8mm
Someday....
That's exactly right, Dave. It was a most unfortunate choice. But they couldn't find a mainstream doctor to say what they wanted.
Uh, hon. The facts are supported by the links I provided, from reliable sources. Now why don't you provide a link or two which DISPROVES what I've said?
I NEVER said he was a crook. I said he was a self promotional quack and charlatan. He is the reason that the Schindlers lost the law suits. Its so funny you praise the guy when he is more responsible for Terri's death than anyone other than Michael. Presented with the BS he provided as expert witness, the judge could not have not ruled for the Schindlers.
A couple of points. Wasn't he sanctioned by the Florida Medical Board for false claims, and didn't he lose his license for a while? As for his nomination, wasn't that made by a member of Congress not qualified to make a nomination in medicine? That's a lot of baggage and with his involvement with the pro-life group and with his prior claims of Terri Schiavo's ability to recover, shouldn't we want another "less challenge-able" doctor to confirm his findings?
Agreed. I would be much more impressed if an independent MD without all that baggage made a determination to either support or refute the ME.
It's a shame then that when asked to bring into court the names or files of patients he has helped, he was unable to do so.
I NEVER said he was a crook. I said he was a self promotional quack and charlatan. He is the reason that the Schindlers lost the law suits. Its so funny you praise the guy when he is more responsible for Terri's death than anyone other than Michael. Presented with the BS he provided as expert witness, the judge could not have not ruled for the Schindlers.
"I tend to think they would falsify the tape to keep their daughter alive."
This is so typical of the shrill liberal mind. I ask a simple question as to what year the balloon tape was made, and all i get is rhetoric.
p.s. Wanting to keep the daughter alive was less a sin than her ex-husband wanting to kill her. "Is the bitch dead yet?"
So you admit that the Schindlers probably did lie in an effort to save their daughter.
You're a friggin BSer.
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