Schiavo autopsy reports due out today

[Soxy]

Let this media circus begin...

 

Schiavo Autopsy Report Due Out Today

 

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: June 15, 2005

 

Filed at 8:19 a.m. ET

 

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- The lawyer for Terri Schiavo's husband says he's confident the long-awaited autopsy report on the brain-damaged woman will show no evidence she was abused before she lapsed into a persistent vegetative state.

Skip to next paragraph Multimedia

 

More than two months after Schiavo's death ended an internationally watched right-to-die battle, autopsy results on the 41-year-old brain damaged woman were to be made public Wednesday.

 

Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner Jon Thogmartin said he will release the autopsy results at an 11 a.m. news conference. Attorneys for Terri Schiavo's husband, Michael Schiavo, and parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, expect to get the report hours earlier.

 

Her parents, who fought their son-in-law in court for seven years over her fate, say they are hoping the autopsy can shed some light on what led to her collapse in February 1990.

 

Terri Schiavo, who most doctors said was in a persistent vegetative state, died March 31, nearly two weeks after the feeding tube keeping her alive was removed by a court order sought by her husband. The dispute reached the halls of Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court and made news around the world.

 

The cause of her collapse has never been definitely proven, but testimony in a 1992 civil trial indicated that she probably was suffering from an eating disorder that led to a severe chemical imbalance and a heart attack.

 

The Schindlers, though, don't believe she had an eating disorder and have accused Michael Schiavo of abusing his wife, a charge he vehemently denies.

 

Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, said the Schindlers continue to engage in a ''smear campaign against Michael to deflect the real issues in the case, which were Terri's wishes and her medical condition.''

 

''I think everyone who has followed the facts in this case knows there is no substance to those (abuse) charges, and I'm confident we're not going to hear anything differently from the medical examiner,'' Felos said.

 

Bill Pellan, chief investigator for the medical examiner's office, said Tuesday that Thogmartin reviewed police reports, medical records and other documents in trying to determine the cause of her brain damage. The issue of whether she was in a persistent vegetative state ''will be addressed,'' Pellan said, although he would not comment further Tuesday.

 

''Our family would really like to know what caused Terri's collapse,'' Terri Schiavo's brother, Bobby Schindler, said. ''I don't know what they can and can't find 15 years after the fact. If we could get some of our questions answered as to how Terri ended up the way she did, that would be helpful.''

 

During the long legal battle, numerous abuse complaints made to state social workers were ruled unfounded.

 

Michael Schiavo convinced the courts his wife would not want to be kept alive artificially with no hope of recovery, contending that she made statements to that effect before her collapse.

 

Her parents doubt she had any such end-of-life wishes and also disputed that she was in a persistent vegetative state. They believed she could get better with therapy.

Edited June 15, 2005 by ChiSoxyGirl

[Soxy]

Link

 

Autopsy: Schiavo Didn't Suffer Trauma

 

By MITCH STACY

Associated Press Writer

Published June 15, 2005, 10:18 AM CDT

 

TAMPA, Fla. -- Terri Schiavo did not suffer any trauma prior to her 1990 collapse and her brain was about half of normal size when she died, according to results released Wednesday of an autopsy conducted on the severely brain-damaged woman.

 

Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner Jon Thogmartin concluded that there was no evidence of strangulation or other trauma leading to her collapse. He also said she did not appear to have suffered a heart attack.

[LosMediasBlancas]

what can we conclude for this?

[EvilJester99]

I would think that says the husband had nothing to do with it... So unexplained medical happening here it seems.

[southsider2k5]

what can we conclude for this?

 

The parents have some apologizing to do it sounds like...

 

Also, did they find any evidence she could have possibily recovered?

[Steff]

The parents have some apologizing to do it sounds like...

 

Also, did they find any evidence she could have possibily recovered?

 

 

At the very least.. but they wont.

 

 

I thought that there was no possibility of recovery since the cortex was liquified and would never "grow" back...

[FlaSoxxJim]

The autopsy largely exonerates Michael Schaivo from the abuse allegations the Schindlers were leveling against him.

 

The likely reason for the coma is no more and no less explained after the autopsy – a potentially lethal osmotic imbalance brought on by an eating disorder.

 

As far as the possibility of ever making any kind of recovery – I think the finding of a brain mass that was 50% that of a normal brain pretty much answers that.

Edited June 16, 2005 by FlaSoxxJim

[southsider2k5]

The autopsy largely exonerates Michael Schaivo from the abuse allegations the Schaivo's were leveling against him.

 

The likely reason for the coma is no more and no less explained after the autopsy – a potentially lethal osmotic imbalance brought on by an eating disorder.

 

As far as the possibility of ever making any kind of recovery – I think the finding of a brain mass that was 50% that of a normal brain pretty much answers that.

 

That's kinda what I figured, but I wasn't sure. And after reading a newish issue of National Geographic on the brain, I realized how little even doctors know about it.

[Soxy]

More complete article

 

Schiavo Autopsy Finds No Sign of Trauma

 

By MITCH STACY, Associated Press Writer 26 minutes ago

 

LARGO, Fla. - An autopsy on

Terri Schiavo backed her husband's contention that she was in a persistent vegetative state, finding that she had massive and irreversible brain damage and was blind, the medical examiner's office said Wednesday. It also found no evidence that she was strangled or otherwise abused.

 

But what caused her collapse 15 years remained a mystery. The autopsy and post-mortem investigation found no proof that she had an eating disorder, as was suspected at the time, Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner Jon Thogmartin said.

 

Autopsy results on the 41-year-old brain-damaged woman were made public Wednesday, more than two months after Schiavo's death March 31 ended an internationally watched right-to-die battle between her husband and parents that engulfed the courts, Congress and the White House and divided the country.

 

Thogmartin also said she did not appear to have suffered a heart attack and there was no evidence that she was given harmful drugs or other substances prior to her death.

 

She died from dehydration, Thogmartin said.

 

He said she would not have been able to eat or drink if she had been given food by mouth as her parents' requested.

 

"Removal of her feeding tube would have resulted in her death whether she was fed or hydrated by mouth or not," Thogmartin told reporters.

 

He also said she was blind, because the "vision centers of her brain were dead."

 

Her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, had fought their son-in-law, Michael Schiavo, in court for seven years over her fate.

 

Thogmartin said that Schiavo's brain was about half of its expected size when she died 13 days after her feeding tube was removed.

 

"The brain weighed 615 grams, roughly half of the expected weight of a human brain," he said. "This damage was irreversible, and no amount of therapy or treatment would have regenerated the massive loss of neurons."

 

He said a review of hospital records of her 1990 showed she had a diminished potassium level in her blood. But he said that did not prove she had an eating disorder, because the emergency treatment she received at the time could have affected the potassium level.

 

The cause of her collapse has never been definitely proven, but testimony in a 1992 civil trial indicated that she probably was suffering from an eating disorder that led to a severe chemical imbalance.

 

The Schindlers, though, don't believe she had an eating disorder and have accused Michael Schiavo of abusing his wife, a charge he vehemently denied.

 

Speaking before the report was issued, Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, said the Schindlers continue to engage in a "smear campaign against Michael to deflect the real issues in the case, which were Terri's wishes and her medical condition."

 

Bill Pellan, chief investigator for the medical examiner's office, said Tuesday that Thogmartin reviewed police reports, medical records and other documents in trying to determine the cause of her brain damage.

 

During the long legal battle, numerous abuse complaints made to state social workers were ruled unfounded.

 

Michael Schiavo convinced the courts his wife would not want to be kept alive artificially with no hope of recovery, contending that she made statements to that effect before her collapse.

 

Her parents doubt she had any such end-of-life wishes and also disputed that she was in a persistent vegetative state. They believed she could get better with therapy.

[Steff]

"He also said she was blind, because the "vision centers of her brain were dead."

 

 

 

 

 

That's a big deal there, correct? Since her folks went on and on and on about her looking at them, being able to recognize them, etc..

[southsider2k5]

Thanks for the post Soxy. What is interesting is now the big question is what caused it, and it seems both sides theories have gotten flushed down the toilet. I wonder what theories are left now?

[CrimsonWeltall]

Correct.

[FlaSoxxJim]

"He also said she was blind, because the "vision centers of her brain were dead."

That's a big deal there, correct? Since her folks went on and on and on about her looking at them, being able to recognize them, etc.. 

You are quite correct.

[Balta1701]

It also says that there was no hope of any recovery. The brain was completely atrophied. It was 50% of its normal mass. Nothing could change that fact.

 

It also says that if she were given actual solid food, not from a feeding tube as her family and their supporters had suggested, her body would not have responded, and she would have choked. In other words...the protesters who were trying to "Sneak bread to her" were actually trying to kill her. They just didn't know it.

[Soxy]

I am pretty baffled that they reported the low Potassium levels in her blood but now don't think it was eating disorder related. As far as my limited knowledge on that goes, if she wasn't taking insulin, laxatives, vomiting, had an adequate diet, taking beta-blockers (for high blood pressure, migraines, anxiety), or didn't have cancer it's a complete mystery how it was low. From the sounds of whatever she was initially taken to the hospital with, I can't imagine them giving her anything that would radically decrease the level of K in her blood. And to be honest, low K is really the only thing that makes sense given the symptoms. Basically, the low levels of Potassium would have made basic neural firing and communication completely effed up. Without that being the cause, honestly, this makes no sense.

[FlaSoxxJim]

I am pretty baffled that they reported the low Potassium levels in her blood but now don't think it was eating disorder related. As far as my limited knowledge on that goes, if she wasn't taking insulin, laxatives, vomiting, had an adequate diet, taking beta-blockers (for high blood pressure, migraines, anxiety), or didn't have cancer it's a complete mystery how it was low. From the sounds of whatever she was initially taken to the hospital with, I can't imagine them giving her anything that would radically decrease the level of K in her blood. And to be honest, low K is really the only thing that makes sense given the symptoms. Basically, the low levels of Potassium would have made basic neural firing and communication completely effed up. Without that being the cause, honestly, this makes no sense.

What about an exceptionally high dose of corticosteroids? I don't know, just guessing.

[Steff]

I am pretty baffled that they reported the low Potassium levels in her blood but now don't think it was eating disorder related. As far as my limited knowledge on that goes, if she wasn't taking insulin, laxatives, vomiting, had an adequate diet, taking beta-blockers (for high blood pressure, migraines, anxiety), or didn't have cancer it's a complete mystery how it was low. From the sounds of whatever she was initially taken to the hospital with, I can't imagine them giving her anything that would radically decrease the level of K in her blood. And to be honest, low K is really the only thing that makes sense given the symptoms. Basically, the low levels of Potassium would have made basic neural firing and communication completely effed up. Without that being the cause, honestly, this makes no sense.

 

 

Would "evidence" of an eating disorder be able to be found after she had been nourished for all those years..?

[Balta1701]

Would "evidence" of an eating disorder be able to be found after she had been nourished for all those years..?

 

I don't think there's any reason to suspect that it would be.

[Cerbaho-WG]

I bet Bill Frist feels pretty f***ing stupid right about now.

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

what can we conclude for this?

 

She was savagely killed by several gunshot wounds to the head and then chopped to pieces all right under the noses of half the worlds media and thousands of protestors.

[CanOfCorn]

I bet Bill Frist feels pretty f***ing stupid right about now.

 

Unfortunately, I doubt it.

[LowerCaseRepublican]

I bet Bill Frist feels pretty f***ing stupid right about now.

 

Shouldn't he always? He's a f***ing medical doctor and would not state if he knew for certain that tears and sweat could not transmit the HIV/AIDS virus because he had to tow the party line.

 

To quote Jon Stewart: "I'd cry...but I don't want to have to put a condom on my face."

[jackie hayes]

I bet Bill Frist feels pretty f***ing stupid right about now.

Hey, whaddya know, I'm finally agreeing w/ Bill Frist.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Bob and Mary Schindler disputed the results, insisting their daughter interacted with them and tried to speak. Their attorney said the family plans to discuss the autopsy with other medical experts and may take some unspecified legal action.

 

"We knew all along that Terri was profoundly brain damaged," said Schiavo's brother, Bobby Schindler. "We simply wanted to bring her home and care for her. It all goes back to this quality of life."

 

What quality of life???

 

I understand them being in denial of the scientific findings, as it invalidates 15 years of claims that there was at least some level of cognition.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/a...schiavo_autopsy

[Rex Kickass]

All the people that tried to feed Terri Schiavo in those last couple weeks would have just choked her to death.