The Core Dump

The Core Dump is the personal blog of Nic Lindh, a Swedish-American pixel-pusher living in Phoenix, Arizona.

[By Nic Lindh on Saturday, 18 June 2005]

Bill Frist, Insta-MD

One of the most offensive actions surrounding the tragic Terry Schiavo case was when Senator Bill Frist, a Medical Doctor, watched a few minutes of video of the brain-damaged Mrs. Sciavo and declared, in his infinite wisdown, that Mrs. Schiavo was not brain dead and that she “responded to visual stimuli". Mr. Frist’s insta-diagnosis of course contradicted the one made by doctors who had spent years caring for Mrs. Schiavo.

Turns out the autopsy of Mrs. Schiavo has revealed that “she was in a persistent vegetative state [and] had massive and irreversible brain damage and was blind."

So, Mr. Frist, are you going to apologize for your blatant mis-diagnosis and for dragging the reputation of your medical colleagues through the mud? And are you going to practice medicine again?

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