Posted on 03/22/2005 6:15:47 PM PST by FR_addict
First segments.... (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a medical case as high profile as Terri Schiavo, you would think the medical experts would have all the answers. But just by listening to them and reviewing statements they gave to the court, it's easy to see why a final answer is so complicated.
DR. WILLIAM HAMMESFAHR, NEUROLOGIST: I spent about 10 hours across about three months and the woman is very aware of her surroundings. She's very aware. She's alert. She's not in a coma. She's not in PVS. ...
DR. RONALD CRANFORD, NEUROLOGIST: A vegetative state is a scary diagnosis. Unless you know what you're looking for, it looks like the patient is interacting. But Terri is not interacting.
GUPTA: Both of them are neurologists and their conclusions are based on diagnostic tests that are supposed to be objective. Yet, they tell different tales.
HAMMESFAHR: Her CAT scan has maybe 75 percent of the brain tissue still left. CRANFORD: I've seen her. There's no doubt in my mind, whatsoever, she's in a permanent vegetative state. Her CAT scan shows extremely severe atrophy to the brain. And her EEG is flat. It doesn't show any electrical activity at all.
GUPTA: And, most importantly, their opinions about a possible recovery?
HAMMESFAHR: With proper therapy, she will have a tremendous improvement. I think, personally, that she'll be able to walk, eventually, and she will be able to use at least one of her arms.
CRANFORD: There's no way. That's totally bogus. ...
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(Excerpt) Read more at transcripts.cnn.com ...
His article makes that pretty clear. I know how I'll cast my vote between the methods of death due to lack of basic necesseties. Leave me out in the freezing cold. Do it on a clear night so I can marvel at the stars.
I'm just heartbroken, pissed, amazed ... that starving anybody to death is seriously defended, but there are lots of defenders. Chilling.
Was it me or did anyone else noticed how much he was blinking his eyes while being questioned by Hannity?
Compared with the other doctor who is a nobel nominee I can't see how anyone find this guy more credible.
somene today was saying to me "this happens all the time, feeding tubes taken out". I said to her it was not common and only occurred with terminal cancer patients or people on ventilators who were brain dead.
I then asked if that person thought docs were killers. She just had never thought about it, just accepted the idea. I was aghast.
Cranford is the one with the flat EEG.
My observation is that those who are defending the court and defending the practice are adept at conflating issues and drawing false parallels. In short, at making the situation confusion when it could be made clear.
I've learned alot in the past couple days -- didn't follow the case close at all until this weekend, but was generally aware of the issues. I am grateful for the FR tool, it has been somewhat helpful.
Absolutely chilling. We are in the clutch of a culture of death. Nobody learns from history. (consider Germany under Hitler)
Many people are waking up to this case. My sister just started reading about it yesterday.
Some more about Dr. Cranford. Thanks for the find, FR_addict.
Videos of Terri. She doesn't look vegetative to me.
http://www.sacramentolifechain.org/schiavo.html
Re:HAMMESFAHR
http://www.casewatch.org/civil/schiavo.shtml
What is significant, however, and what [undermines] his creditability is that he did not present to this court any evidence other than his generalized statements as to the efficacy of his therapy on brain damaged individuals like Terry Schiavo. He testified that he has treated about 50 patients in the same or worse condition than Terry Schiavo since 1994 but he offered no names, no case studies, no videos and no tests results to support his claim that he had success in all but one of them. If his therapy is as effective as he would lead this court to believe, it is inconceivable that he would not produce clinical results of these patients he has treated. And surely the medical literature would be replete with this new, now patented, procedure. Yet, he has only published one article and that was in 1995 involving some 63 patients, 60% of whom were suffering from whiplash. None of these patients were in a persistent vegetative state and all were conversant. Even he acknowledges that he is aware of no article or study that shows vasodilatation therapy to be an effective treatment for persistent vegetative state patients. The court can only assume that such substantiations are not available, not just catalogued in such a way that they can not be readily identified as he testified.
It was a very good show anyway. Hannity has definitely put some work into learning the facts in this case.
The only thing he missed is, when Dr. Cranford said she had a flat EEG, which is not true. Other than that he nailed him good!
Didn't it seem like he didn't want to answer these questions? He sure has questionable opinions to be considered seriously as a Dr. of healing medicine. He's a creepy death Dr. Sean did a wonderful job interviewing him.
mark
Cranford is also the so called "doctor" that administered the balloon test to Terri that is available for video viewing on Terrisfight.org
Listen to him and then read his findings. Certainly a man with a mission.
Your point is well taken - For some reason moral issues like this one bring out the worst in illogical left wing thinking. The argument that "this happens all the time.." and therefore somehow it is OK is just nonsense. Lots of things "happen all the time" that aren't OK - like clerks in convenience stores being shot by robbers. No one in their right mind should think that just because something happens frequently it is acceptable, or a good thing to have happen.
And if you read the first doctor's complete transcript, he mentions the EEG is not a good tracing because there is so much artifact from her shaking...So the EEG is not technically a good measure of her brain's status. Your'e going to need different tests...like a PET scan. Or remove those thalamic stimulator clips (as was recommended years ago) and get an MRI.
Yeah Crawford is a Dr. Death flake, but unfortunately William Hammesfahr is a total quack that was disciplined by both the Florida and California Medical Board’s for false and deceptive practices and bilking patients.
Terri’s parents are fools to keep using Hammesfahr. The man has ZERO credibility before the Bar. No first class attorney would represent the Schindler’s if they insisted in using expert witnesses like Hammesfahr, and the man has greatly hurt their case.
I don’t like it, but sorry those are the hard facts.
Sorry typo I meant Cranford
The only charge against Hammesfahr for which he was not exonerated was something to the effect that a patient had prepaid for one treatment plan, had signed up on arrival for a cheaper plan, and was given the cheaper plan but charged for the more expensive one.
To be sure, Hammesfahr and his billing staff should not have made such a mistake, but his having made it hardly makes him a 'quack'.
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.