An autopsy on Terri Schiavo has revealed that her brain was severely atrophied and weighed about half the size of a normal brain at the time of her death. These findings have vindicated the stand of her husband Michael Schiavo, who had all along maintained that she was in a vegetative state.
The autopsy results were released on Wednesday, more than two months after her death. The Piniellas-Pasco Medical Examiner, Jon Thogmartin, told that the autopsy showed that Ms. Schiavo's condition was "consistent" with a person in a persistent vegetative state. He was addressing a televised news conference in Largo, Fla, today.
"The damage was irreversible. No amount of therapy or treatment would have regenerated the massive loss of neurons. Her vision centers of her brain were dead," Dr. Thogmartin said. He added that Schiavo would not have been able to survive even if she was fed by mouth after the feeding tube was removed, "Mrs. Schiavo was dependent on nutrition and hydration by her feeding tube and removal of her feeding tube would have resulted in her death, whether she was fed and hydrated by mouth or not," he said.
Another key point that the autopsy was able to clear was that there was no evidence of strangulation or other trauma leading to her collapse. This point had been raised by Mrs. Schiavo's parents who claimed that her husband had abused her, "No drugs or other substances given to Mrs. Schiavo caused her to die or accelerated the dying process," Thogmartin stressed.
Terri Schiavo was the focus of a legal battle between her husband and her parents over her right to die. After a fall in 1990, she had gone into a coma. Her husband maintained that she never wanted to be kept alive by artificial means, while Terri Schiavo's parents challenged this. After a long-drawn legal battle, the courts sided with Michael Schiavo, which resulted in the removal of her feeding tube on March 18. She died 13 days later on March 31. Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, had commented before the autopsy report was released by saying that the Schindlers continued to bear a grudge against his client and hence were unleashing a “smear campaign against Michael to deflect the real issues in the case, which were Terri's wishes and her medical condition.”
David Gibbs III, attorney for the Schindlers, said, " We are, at this point, examining every option and no decisions have been made." Michael Schiavo and the Schindlers were not immediately available for comments.
