OK Larry. I see your quote and raise you the two paragraphs before it: "Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, raised questions about Hammesfahr's credibility by pointing out the state board of medicine had accused him of falsely advertising his treatment.
This week, though, an administrative judge rejected the board's accusations and, based on testimony from several satisfied customers, called Hammesfahr "the first physician to treat patients successfully to restore deficits caused by stroke." " The above is from the link you proided to the St Petersburg paper. > -- > In Greer's order, the Pinellas probate judge labeled Hammesfahr a > "self-promoter," who testified that he had treated patients worse off > than Mrs. Schiavo yet "offered no names, no case studies, no videos > and no test results to support his claim." > > In short, the judge wrote in the nine-page order, he needed "something > more than a belief" that some new treatment could restore Mrs. > Schiavo's faculties "so as to significantly improve her quality of > life. There is no such testimony, much less a preponderance of > evidence to that effect." > -- > taken from the St. Petersburg Fl. Times online edition > http://www.sptimes.com/2002/11/23/TampaBay/Judge__Schiavo_can_t_.shtml In the link below there is also a discussion of the difficulty of being sure about a diagnosis of persistent vegetative state. For example, this is part of the conclusion: It is certainly not a diagnosis which can be made on a one-off assessment at the bedside without a considerable amount of supportive evidence from a multidisciplinary team experienced in the management of severe brain damage. So far, neurophysiological investigations can at best be supportive, rather than diagnostic. And the parents say Schiavo's doctors each spent less than an hour with Terri. Your link below also says: "The study by Andrews et al15 highlights some of the major problems in making a diagnosis of the vegetative state. They reviewed the records of 40 consecutive patients admitted to their specialist profound brain injury unit at least 6 months following their brain injury (a period after which spontaneous recovery is generally regards as limited) with a referral diagnosis of vegetative state. They found that whilst 25% remained vegetative, 33% emerged during the rehabilitation programme, and 43% had been misdiagnosed (41% of these for more than a year including three for more than 5 years). The level of cognitive functioning present in this misdiagnosed group at the time of discharge was considerable: 60% were orientated in time, place and person, 75% were able to recall a name after 15 minutes delay, 69% were able to carry out simple mental arithmetic, 75% were able to generate words to communicate their needs and 86% were able to make choices about their daily social activities. (snip) The ability to generate a behavioural response fluctuates from day to day and hour to hour, and even minute to minute, depending on fatigue factors, general health of the patient and the underlying neurological condition. Observation needs to take into account delayed responses. Assimilation of even basic information is often slow and therefore response time may be delayed. Because of this, information provided at any one time should be simple, consistent, repeated after a period of rest and allow for a delayed response. Communication requires skilled techniques and a sensitivity for the method by which the patient wants to communicate. Families and other carers have a very important role in identifying the best responses and the optimal conditions for assessment. Whilst there are some relatives who interpret reflex responses as being meaningful, there is no doubt that members of the family are often more sensitive to early changes than even experienced clinical staff." > Moreover many of the involuntary behaviors you characterize are simply > that involuntary, non-intentional behaviors (for a full definition see > http://pmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/75/884/321). When you > strongly want to believe otherwise, frequently these behaviors are > often cited as evidence that the person is aware. With Ms. Shaivo's > parents this would appear to be the case. I haven't yet found any mention of CAT scans or MRIs in this case. > However such belief doesn't explain the atrophy in the cortex as shown > in CAT scans and MRI's. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Discover CFTicket - The leading ColdFusion Help Desk and Trouble Ticket application http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=48 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:144775 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
