Doctor testifies he could help Schiavo

A Clearwater neurologist says his therapy may enable her to communicate.

By WILLIAM R. LEVESQUE, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 15, 2002

CLEARWATER -- A doctor who examined Terri Schiavo said Monday a therapy he developed can improve the brain-damaged woman's condition to the point that she could communicate.

Dr. William M. Hammesfahr, a Clearwater neurologist, testified in the second day of a hearing to determine if Mrs. Schiavo might ever recover. He said that she already responds to her parents and to some simple commands.

"She is aware," Hammesfahr said, telling Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge George W. Greer that he does not consider Mrs. Schiavo to be in a persistent vegetative state.

A drug therapy Hammesfahr has developed has allowed other brain-damaged patients to show remarkable improvement, he testified.

Hammesfahr was called by attorneys for Mrs. Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, who are battling efforts by Mrs. Schiavo's husband to remove their daughter's feeding tube, allowing her to die.

Michael Schiavo has said his wife's brain is destroyed and her condition beyond correction. He said she would not want her life extended under those circumstances.

George Felos, an attorney for Schiavo, challenged Hammesfahr's credibility and the effectiveness of his therapy during a lengthy cross-examination.

He questioned the doctor about his assertion in advertisements that he has been nominated for a Nobel Prize in medicine.

Hammesfahr said he was nominated for the prize by Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Bilirakis, who wrote a letter to Stockholm recommending the doctor for the honor several years ago.

Video of Hammesfahr examining Mrs. Schiavo was played throughout the day. The doctor repeatedly testified that the tape shows her responding to commands, including commands that she move her eyes and legs.

After Mrs. Schiavo's eyes apparently diverted after a command, Hammesfahr said, "A person in a coma does not do that."

Testimony from four other doctors will be heard in the next week. The hearing continues today.

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