Posted on 04/01/2005 11:52:28 PM PST by FairOpinion
The amount of medical misinformation put out about Terri Schiavo has been truly stunning. The testimony of Terri’s physicians who believe that some recovery is possible has been largely dismissed. Judge Greer’s court and the media in turn, have focused only on the pessimistic interpretations of the raw data of her CT scan.
A physician at a credible physicians’ website has analyzed Terri’s CAT scan and concludes that it has been grossly misrepresented. There is some cerebral atrophy, but it is a completely inaccurate to characterize it as “bag of water.” Furthermore, the author states that
“the most alarming thing about this image, however, is that there certainly is cortex left. Granted, it is severely thinned, especially for Terri's age, but I would be nonplussed if you told me that this was a 75 year old female who was somewhat senile but fully functional, and I defy a radiologist anywhere to contest that.”
In one of the definitive court battles in 2002, five physicians examined Terri to determine if therapy would be of further benefit. Two chosen by Terri’s parents believed that she was not in a “persistent vegetative state” and that some recovery was possible. Two chosen by Michael Schiavo held that she had no chance of recovery, as did the “neutral” physician appointed by the court. This 3-2 decision was key in the 2003 attempt to pull her feeding tube.
One of Michael Schiavo’s medical experts was the right-to-die advocate Dr. Ronald Cranford, who has been an expert in a number other key court cases on our nation’s slippery slope to euthanasia, including those of Nancy Cruzan and Robert Wedlund. But Dr. Cranford has made serious errors in other cases when prognosticating about the prospects of neurological recovery. Frederica Mathewes-Green states that Sgt. David Mack, who was shot in the line of duty as a policeman, was diagnosed by Cranford as
"definitely...in a persistent vegetative state...never [to] regain cognitive, sapient functioning...never [to] be aware of his condition."
Twenty months after the shooting Mack woke up, and eventually regained nearly all his mental ability. When asked by a reporter how he felt, he spelled out on his letterboard, "Speechless!"
In fact, the entire field of diagnosing “persistent vegetative state” or “PVS” is fraught with inaccuracy. Recent studies have shown the rate of misdiagnosis to be as high as 37% or even 43%. PVS is a clinical diagnosis, meaning that it depends on the subjective judgment of the examining physician. Experts in the field cannot even agree on the usefulness of diagnostic imaging.
Dr. Ronald Cranford himself was upset about the articles showing the inaccuracy of diagnosis and prognostication about PVS. Childs and Mercer, authors of one of the studies citing the difficulties of diagnosing PVS, took Cranford to task for “zealously” promoting the concept of the "permanent vegetative state" despite the evidence of its problematic nature, and the regularity with which some patients recover from it .
The nomenclature of “persistent vegetative state” was coined in 1972 by Jennett and Plum in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet. The original article, “Persistent Vegetative State: A syndrome in search of a name” seems to have succeeded in its task as reclassifying severely cognitively disabled humans as non-persons - something akin to vegetables in the minds of many. Public perception of this highly-charged term predisposes many to dismiss the lives of human beings as no more significant than plant life. It is a brilliant, if chilling, masterstroke of propaganda, one which has been swallowed hook, line, and sinker.
This reclassification of non-terminally ill people has allowed for their dehydration and starvation deaths in Britain with a doctor’s recommendation, and in many states in the USA with the family’s wishes (or a patient’s own advance directives). The medical literature is rife with arrogant pronouncements in editorials of learned journals, such as life itself not being of “benefit” to someone in the PVS state. The echoes of current bioethics doublespeak resound in these journals.
In some respects the “persistent vegetative state” is more a political than a medical diagnosis, as it allows its unfortunate victims to lose their right to life and be medically killed through withholding food and water. It is unfortunate that some of the experts on the side of the Culture of Death seem to have had the upper hand in Terri’s fight, and have been portrayed by the media as reasonable and responsible members of the medical profession, rather than the zealots which, in fact, some of their own medical colleagues have branded them.
additional severe brain damage several days AFTER she entered the hospital.
That I didn't know.
If the first attempt fails, try try again?
then the statement "when is the bitch going to die".
You don't have to gauge his credibility. Save yourself the trouble. Do like Greer did, and deal with viewpoints that you don't like by dismissing them.
"A+" response!
I wonder if the autopsy will support what Dr. Davenport suggests? If it does, then Michael Schiavo, accompanied by his lawyer Felos, and George Greer actually did err in starving this woman to death. And, IMHO, if an error was made, it ought to trigger charges of murder for the three.
So you prefer the husband or doctor to have the sole right to pull the feeeding tube without any interference by the courts?
Last thing I or most Americans want is the Congress interfering in my decision or the decision of a loved one to die just to satisfy someone elses religious beliefs. If you really fear someone pulling the plug on you, sign up somone you trust implicitly to have legal power of attorney to make that decision for you. Dont enforce your decision on those of us who feel an unconscious life is a waste and would rather move on to the next life.
Neither Cranford nor Hammelsfamr are the types of doctors one would like being involved in this type of decision. Both have agendas and neither appears to be a serious physician. When you politicise a case you end up with snakes like them as well as snakes like Felos and Randall Terry.
She had more than three years of therapy and showed absolutely zero improvment according to her Guardian Ad Litem. Why do you people feel it is essential to lie to convince anyone of the "rightness" of your case. Do you lack confidence in your beliefs that much or are you just ignorant?
True. Also true that the law was passed in 1999 and signed by Jeb Bush. Those of you supporting Terri should have spent last five years lobbying the Florida legislature rather than in appeals courts. All the appeals courts can rule on is what they are given. If its so damned important then change the law and do so in a fashion that a solid majority can agree with the law.
And your evidence for this is what? Felos is a lawyer, not a judge and has no more standing than the idiot representing the Schindlers.
Ping
Can you show me where this disabled woman who was not terminally ill or brain dead but rather disabled similar to a mentally retarded person had ever stated in writing she wanted this inhumane treatment?
It's not there, all we have is the word of slimy husband who has contradicted himself every step of the way.
That makes pulling the plug on her murder in my book Dave, and you're in a fantasy world if you think only "religious" people are making these claims.
I think that group is now called the "Choice In Living" group.
Toss in that word "choice" and so many peopel become instant idiots and say it's good.
Idiots.
Its obvious, the MD is credible because he/she supports FairOpinion's belief.
All those back injuries, sounds like someone very big and heavy was wrestling her, likely bouncing full weight on her back or just pressing her down. A body slam from someone like her husband would do as much damage as falling out an upstairs window. Her struggle to breathe or escape a pressing weight could also account for the broken bones.
This paragraph, IMV, is a magnificent summation of the hidious perfidious downward spiral the death zealots and MSM have taken our country.
Terri Schiavo's brutal torturous heinous murder is a result of the "politics of personal destruction" as much as it was explained in medical terms, it is still political.
And how many tens of thousands of other non scientologists moved there as well over the past sixty years? What the hell does that prove? That more than one person can enjoy a warm Sunny climate?
Dr Gupta has seemed genuine throughout this. Another example - a week or so ago he was on CNN with Daryn Kagan and they were discussing Cranford's claim that Terri's EEG was flat. Gupta looked clearly distressed and refuted him on air. He's the only reason I've turned CNN on at all these past few weeks (I normally don't watch CNN as a rule).
He is truly despicable.
You know Dave here in NY there are loads of homes and institutions for the mentally retarded and some of them have far less mental capacity than Terri had. In your opinion if the parents decided that their life is meaningless should they through sanction of the courts be allowed to simply stop feeding them until they die?
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