Has the Schiavo case Become a Political Football?

You see "a neurologist really knocking the crap out of Scarborough", I see a self-important, arrogant advocate who happens to be a medical doctor. He contradicts himself on minor matters even within the passage you quoted, and cites no source that would allow me to check his account against the AP report on the major issue, which is how many doctors reached which conclusion.

What is a persistent vegetative state? According to the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke people in PVS "have lost their thinking abilities and awareness of their surroundings, but retain non-cognitive function and normal sleep patterns. Even though those in a persistent vegetative state lose their higher brain functions, other key functions such as breathing and circulation remain relatively intact. Spontaneous movements may occur, and the eyes may open in response to external stimuli. They may even occasionally grimace, cry, or laugh. Although individuals in a persistent vegetative state may appear somewhat normal, they do not speak and they are unable to respond to commands."But what they show seems to fit an AMA's report of how PVS patients can respond to environmental cues without being aware. Specifically, the report notes, "Despite an 'alert demeanor', observation and examination repeatedly fail to demonstrate coherent speech, comprehension of the words of examiners or attendants, or any capacity to initiate or make consistently purposeful movements. Movements are largely confined to reflex withdrawals or posturing in response to noxious or other external stimuli. Since neither visual nor auditory signals require cortical integrity to stimulate brief orienting reflexes, some vegetative patients may turn the head or dart the eyes toward a noise or moving objects. However, PVS patients neither fixate upon nor consistently follow moving objects with the eyes, nor do they show other than startle responses to loud stimuli. They blink when air movements stimulate the cornea but not in the presence of visual threats per se."

Ms. Schiavo has been in this state for 13 years. What are her chances of recovering at least some awareness? Minnesota neurologist Ronald Cranford told the Washington Post, "There has never been a documented case of someone recovering after having been in a persistent vegetative state for more than 3 months. However, the journal Brain Injury reported the case, of a 26-year-old woman who, after being diagnosed as suffering from a persistent vegetative state for six months, recovered consciousness and, though severely disabled, is largely cognitively intact. However, it is generally agreed that if a patient doesn't become responsive before six months, his or her prognosis is extremely poor. A report on PVS by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council finds that "patients in a state of post-coma unresponsiveness may emerge from it to become responsive," that "the probability of emergence becomes progressively less over time," and that "there is general agreement that emergence is less likely in older people, and in the victims of hypoxic brain damage." Terri Schiavo is the way she is because oxygen was cut off to her brain for 14 minutes; in other words, she suffered severe hypoxic brain damage.

General opinion is about as divided about both issues in Germany as it is in America, though our laws are much more 'conservative' than yours. (One of the things I find ironic about the American debate is how the same liberals who urge that American law adapt to international standards decency about punishment (capital and otherwise), ignore those standards in their end-of-life and beginning of life positions.)

Checks facts - good idea before stating them:

Similar requirements are in place for the other prizes. However unlike other awards ceremonies the Nobel Prize nominees are not publicly announced and they are not supposed to be told that they were ever considered for the prize. The records are sealed for 50 years. This is done to avoid turning the awarding of the prize into a popularity contest. Due to this secrecy it is questionable whenever someone uses a Nobel nomination as a qualification (how could you check it?).

Nomination Procedure
This is how the procedure is run:


The Nobel Assembly appoints a working committee, the Nobel Committee, which carries out the preliminary work.

Representatives of the medical scientific community are invited to submit proposals for candidates.

The Nobel Committee processes the proposals before presenting them to the Nobel Assembly.

The Assembly makes a decision.

The Prize is awarded in the Stockholm Concert Hall on 10 December each year.

THIS is what needs to happen to be an actual nominee:

Quote:

Since the first Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1901, the Peace Prize has, in accordance with Alfred Nobel's will, been awarded by a committee of five, appointed by the Storting (the Norwegian Parliament), but without the committee being formally responsible to the Storting. According to rules laid down by the Storting, election to the committee is for a six-year term, and members could be re-elected.
The committee's composition reflects the relative strengths of the political parties in the Storting, but the committee has elected its own chairman and deputy chairman. It was never required by the rules and on some occasions the matter has been debated, but so far all committee members have been Norwegian nationals. In the nomination and selection process, the committee has the assistance of a secretary since the establishment of the Norwegian Nobel Institute in 1904, this person also being the institute's director, as well as of a number of permanent and ad hoc advisors.

sozobe wrote:

THIS is what needs to happen to be an actual nominee:

Quote:

Since the first Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1901, the Peace Prize has, in accordance with Alfred Nobel's will, been awarded by a committee of five, appointed by the Storting (the Norwegian Parliament), but without the committee being formally responsible to the Storting. According to rules laid down by the Storting, election to the committee is for a six-year term, and members could be re-elected.
The committee's composition reflects the relative strengths of the political parties in the Storting, but the committee has elected its own chairman and deputy chairman. It was never required by the rules and on some occasions the matter has been debated, but so far all committee members have been Norwegian nationals. In the nomination and selection process, the committee has the assistance of a secretary since the establishment of the Norwegian Nobel Institute in 1904, this person also being the institute's director, as well as of a number of permanent and ad hoc advisors.

Hate to be a stickler, but that doesn't say what needs to happen to get nominated for an award.

Checks facts - good idea before stating them:

Dr. William Hammesfahr, Nobel Prize Nominee, Says Major Improvement Possible for Disabled People Speaking At The World Congress on Disability

People can gain substantial reversal of previous defecits of all types through increased blood flow to the damaged areas. Nobel Prize nominee, Dr. William Hammesfahr,will share his protocol using medication and hyperbaric oxygen with the World Congress on Disability in Orlando.

ORLANDO, FL (PRWEB) October 9, 2004 -- "Contrary to popular belief in mainstream medicine, most people can see major restoration of disabilities through proper medication and therapy," says Dr. William Hammesfahr. He was invited to share his protocolwith the World Congress on Disability in Orlando on Friday, October 8, 2004 at 4:00 pm.

Dr. William Hammesfahr, M.D.,noted neurologist, will be a featured lecturer, speaking about "Restoring Disability: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach". Dr. Hammesfahr will be commenting on approaches to improving disabilities through increasing blood flow to the damaged areas with medications and hyperbaric oxygen. Dr. Hammesfahr is a recognized expert in treating neurological disorders through improving and normalizing blood flow into the damaged areas.

Dr. Hammesfahr was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology in 1999 for his work in brain injury and stroke. He has successfully treated thousands of patients using vasodilator therapy which increases blood flow to the brain healing conditions previously thought to be untreatable. He has been using this technology for more than a decade with good results. Patients are seeing remarkable reduction in pain, return of function in previously unusable limbs, and return of lost sight, hearing, and other function.

In 2000, this work resulted in approval for the first patent in history granted for the treatment of neurological diseases including coma, stroke, brain injury, cerebral palsy, hypoxic injuries and other neurovascular disorders with medications that restore blood flow to the brain. It was extended to treat successfully disabilities including ADD, ADHD, Dyslexia, Tourette's and Autism as well as behaviorally and emotionally disturbed children, seizures and severe migraines.

The federal government has recognized Dr. Hammesfahr's clinical expertise, naming him Reviewer and Chief Reviewer for evaluation and funding for new clinical research programs. He has also been a court-recognized expert and a court-ordered treating physician for these techniques that he pioneered. He has lectured and published extensively.

Dr. Hammesfahr graduated from the Northwestern Honors Program in Medical Education in 1982, a program which only accepts a small number of high school students directly into medical school. He then trained in Neurosurgery and Neurology at the Medical College in Virginia. He has received Board Certification in both Neurology and Pain Management.

Dr. Hammesfahr's work has been presented at numerous conferences and on the web. He has been invited to speak at the Anti-Aging Conference in Las Vegas on December 2nd. The World Congress on Disability is October 7-9, 2004 from 9-5. He will be speaking on Friday. October 8th at 4:00pm. : All conference activities will be held at: The Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/10/prweb166025.htm

The nomination:
http://www.hni-online.com/nobel_prize_nomination.htm

So, the doc is in fact not a Nobel Prize Nominee. This doesn't exactly lend credence to his claims.

Thomas,

you wrote that the article I posted was full of contradictions. Which contradictions are those, exactly?

Respectfully

Cycloptichorn

The Nominators - Physiology or Medicine

Right to submit proposals for the award of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, based on the principle of competence and universality, shall by statute be enjoyed by:

1. Members of the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm;
2. Swedish and foreign members of the medical class of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences;
3. Nobel Laureates in Physiology or Medicine;
4. Members of the Nobel Committee not qualified under paragraph 1 above;
5. Holders of established posts as professors at the faculties of medicine in Sweden and holders of similar posts at the faculties of medicine or similar institutions in Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway;
6. Holders of similar posts at no fewer than six other faculties of medicine selected by the Assembly, with a view to ensuring the appropriate distribution of the task among various countries and their seats of learning; and
7. Practitioners of natural sciences whom the Assembly may otherwise see fit to approach.

Decisions concerning the selection of the persons appointed under paragraphs 6 and 7 above are taken before the end of May each year on the recommendation of the Nobel Committee.

Prize-Awarder: The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm