Daily Archives: June 15, 2005

Press Conference Terri Schindler Shiavo Autopsy

Autopsy Report here (Via Michelle Malkin)

You can request a copy of the autopsy request here.

Liveblogged.

Focus was the etiology of the initial collapse and allegations of abuse…

Full autopsy performed April 1st. 274 images were taken.

Cause of collapse: Did she have an eating disorder? Low potassium was probably caused by heart attack and treatment prior to blood draw. Unreliable measure of pre arrest potassium level render diagnosis of bulemia nervosa suspect. No evidence indicates she used or was given drugs.

Caffeine toxicity is unlikely.

Did she have a heart attack? Her heart was normal.

Was she strangled? No trauma was noted on the day of, the day after, or months later. Autopsy did not show trauma, but after 15 years, it might not be seen.

Bone scan one year after Terri’s attack was to look for hetertopic ossification. Autopsy supports this diagnosis. Tissue testing also confirms.

Could she eat by mouth? Records indicate that she would not have been able to eat. She was at high risk for aspiration. After the feeding tube was removed, she would have died whether or not nutrition and hydration were given orally.

After her collapse, was she given something to speed her on her way? There is no evidence to support that Terri was given substances in 1996 and 2004.

No drugs caused her to die or assisted her to death.

Was she in a persistent vegetative state. Brain was profoundly atrophied. Due to neurological damage. Irreversible. No amount of therapy would have helped. She was blind, could not see.

She died of marked dehydration. She did not starve to death.

Manner of death will be recorded as undetermined.

Receipt of credible information will be considered if necessary.

Terri Schindler Schaivo Autopsy Report Due Today

According to the AP, the autopsy report is due out today.

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.

More when known.

mm-5