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March 24, 2005

More Neurologists say Terri is not PVS

At Thrown Back:

Neurologists Say: Recording of Terri Shows She's Not PVS

You'll recall the audio recordings of Terri and her father which were posted at the Matt Drudge and the Family Research Council websites earlier this week. These recordings (actually two different versions of the same recording) were made last year, and include Terri's father, Bob Schindler, talking to Terri, and Terri making noises which seem to be efforts to respond.

I sent the recordings to the four neurologists I interviewed for my National Review Online article from last week, "Starving For A Fair Diagnosis": Dr. Mack Jones, a neurologist in Florida; Dr. Thomas Zabiega, a neurologist in Chicago; Dr. William Bell, a professor of neurology at the Wake Forest University Medical School; and Dr. Peter Morin, a neurologist researching degenerative brain diseases.

Three of the four neurologists reported that they believed that Terri was responding to her father, and was attempting to form words. The fourth, Dr. Peter Morin, demurred, saying that he did not want to venture an opinion based on an audio recording without accompanying video.

The remaining neurologists all expressed confident opinions regarding what they heard in Terri's recording. Dr. Mack Jones said "She does appear to be responding to her father's questions and attempting to form words." Dr. Bell concurred, saying that Terri "did respond [to her father's voice] as she seems to pace her vocalization to his voice and not the reverse (his voice to
her vocalizations)."

As always from Thrown Back, this is a must-read!

[Many thanks to Cindy in comments!]

Posted by beth at March 24, 2005 8:25 PM

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