Christian M.D. Questions Coroner's Conclusions After Schiavo Autopsy
by Bill Fancher
June 23, 2005
(AgapePress) - The brain-injured Florida woman who was for years at the center of a sanctity-of-life controversy remains the subject of debate even after her death. Although the recent autopsy performed on Terri Schiavo was extensive, one doctor feels the coroner's conclusions were somewhat suspect.Schiavo, a 41-year-old disabled patient in hospice care whose parents and other family members fought a long, frustrating legal battle to preserve her life, ultimately died of dehydration several days after her feeding and hydration tube was removed in March. The invalid woman's estranged husband obtained a court order to have the tube withdrawn, effectively starving and dehydrating his wife to death.
Christian Medical & Dental Associations president Dr. David Stevens believes that, although Schiavo's autopsy was thorough and reached many correct conclusions, room remains for criticism. One problem with the coroner's report, he notes, is that it "drew conclusions from anatomic evidence of functional inabilities."
For instance, one of the medical examiner's conclusions was that Terri Schiavo was blind. But Stevens asserts, "You can't diagnose blindness by looking at the brain -- you actually have to test it." And, although the examiner said Schiavo was unable to nourish herself by eating, the CMDA spokesman points out, ""There was no blockage to her esophagus, the tube going from her mouth to her stomach. Whether she could eat or not is really a functional issue; you don't know unless you try -- and they didn't let her try."
Another finding with which Stevens takes issue is the coroner's conclusion that the cause of death in the disabled woman's case was unknown. "We don't know why she had her initial injury almost 15 years ago," he notes, "but the reason she died is because she was dehydrated to death."
While the Christian doctor challenges some aspects of the Schiavo's physical examination and their implications, he says the main issue throughout her tragic saga has repeatedly been overlooked by many in the mainstream media, politics, and public discourse. "The big moral issue is this," he asserts: "Do you dehydrate blind and disabled people to death? And that was the big moral issue which they have just side-stepped."
The incident that led to Schiavo's brain injury was never fully investigated. However, Florida Governor Jeb Bush is reopening that investigation.
Bill Fancher, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
