# Schiavo autopsy released **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 15, 2005, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-autopsy-released/308390 "2005-06-15T15:35:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-autopsy-released/308390/1 "2005-06-15T15:35:41Z")
From [CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/06/15/schiavo.autopsy.ap/index.html) > [@](#): > > Terri Schiavo did not suffer any trauma prior to her 1990 collapse and her brain was about half of normal size when she died, according to results released Wednesday of an autopsy conducted on the severely brain-damaged woman. > [@](#): > > “The brain weighed 615 grams, roughly half of the expected weight of a human brain. … This damage was irreversible, and no amount of therapy or treatment would have regenerated the massive loss of neurons.” I expect that the Schindler’s and various numbskulls on this message board will be apologizing to Mr. Schiavo forthwith. ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-autopsy-released/308390/2 "2005-06-15T15:38:11Z")
My prediction is that if they comment on this at all it will be to state that her brain would not have been in such a state if therapy had continued the whole time. Culture of Life, and all that ---
**Author:** ![5que](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/3bc359/32.png) [@5que](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5que)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-autopsy-released/308390/3 "2005-06-15T15:39:10Z")
**Model** , Beat me to it… And, > [@](#): > > Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner Jon Thogmartin, who led the autopsy team, concluded that there was no evidence of strangulation or other trauma leading to her collapse. He also said she did not appear to have suffered a heart attack and there was no evidence that she was given harmful drugs or other substances prior to her death. And let’s not overlook, > [@](#): > > He said she would not have been able to eat or drink if she had been given food by mouth as her parents’ requested. “Removal of her feeding tube would have resulted in her death whether she was fed or hydrated by mouth or not,” Thogmartin told reporters. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-autopsy-released/308390/4 "2005-06-15T15:39:27Z")
Don’t hold your breath. It’s a relief that they didn’t find that she could have possibly recovered but no surprise whatsoever. Even this isn’t going to satisfy the right to lifers. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-autopsy-released/308390/5 "2005-06-15T15:39:47Z")
Nah. They’ll just latch on to other bull shit by the ’ **Culture of Life** ’ assholes and claim that Michael is still evil and Terri was _murdered_. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-autopsy-released/308390/6 "2005-06-15T15:40:22Z")
I saw a good chunk of the press conference. It seems that there’s still enough ambiguity on the initial cause of the collapse for the nutjobs to hurl conspiracy theories. It’s interested that the ocular center of her brain was complete toast, making that whole “Following objects with her eyes” thing pretty impossible. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-autopsy-released/308390/7 "2005-06-15T15:42:26Z")
I’m glad she wasn’t abused (her husband taking a mistress made me very suspicious of him). But I still believe society should err on the side of preserving life when a person doesn’t make their wishes known in the myriad ways we have of doing so. Terri Schiavo, though, died fifteen years ago, so she wasn’t the best example. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-autopsy-released/308390/8 "2005-06-15T15:48:44Z")
> [@Mehitabel](#): > > I’m glad she wasn’t abused (her husband taking a mistress made me very suspicious of him). But I still believe society should err on the side of preserving life when a person doesn’t make their wishes known in the myriad ways we have of doing so. Terri Schiavo, though, died fifteen years ago, so she wasn’t the best example. Note: Mehitabel starts off with judgmental condemnation of Michael based on her take on his life. Then an apology for her spurious accusations is not forthcoming. Let’s prepare for more of these half assed posts. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-autopsy-released/308390/9 "2005-06-15T15:55:24Z")
Yep, married men who have two children with other women are fine upstanding citizens. He didn’t divorce her because he wanted the settlement money. Deal with it. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-autopsy-released/308390/10 "2005-06-15T15:55:45Z")
> [@Mockingbird](#): > > Note: Mehitabel starts off with judgmental condemnation of Michael based on her take on his life. Then an apology for her spurious accusations is not forthcoming. > > Let’s prepare for more of these half assed posts. > > :rolleyes: Well like the cartoon kids say. ‘Being a smug, self-righteous, know-nothing judgemental prick means never having to say you’re sorry.’ ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-autopsy-released/308390/11 "2005-06-15T15:57:19Z")
> [@Mehitabel](#): > > )…But I still believe society should err on the side of preserving life when a person doesn’t make their wishes known in the myriad ways we have of doing so… You have a point. The way that I have chosen to make my wishes know is to inform the person with whom I have exchanged vows and with whom I live and share a life. It is really just a terrible, terrible tragedy that Ms. Schaivo did not do the same. Her poor family and indeed all of society might have been spared an ugly, ugly spectacle. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-autopsy-released/308390/12 "2005-06-15T15:58:51Z")
> [@Mehitabel](#): > > … He didn’t divorce her because he wanted the settlement money. Deal with it. He used the settlement money for her medical care. What an unfeeling bastard. ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-autopsy-released/308390/13 "2005-06-15T15:59:03Z")
> [@Mehitabel](#): > > Yep, married men who have two children with other women are fine upstanding citizens. He didn’t divorce her because he wanted the settlement money. Deal with it. Huh? You idiot. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-autopsy-released/308390/14 "2005-06-15T16:01:00Z")
Just to play devil’s advocate here, you have to be careful about jumping to conclusions based on brain size alone. The CNN story doesn’t give much detail, and doctors are continually amazed at patients who suffer sever brain trauma and who do recover. There’s the famous case of the boy with just one half of his brain intact who functioned pretty normally. I’m not saying that TS would fall in that category necessarily (I doubt she would), but there simply isn’t enough detail in the CNN story to determine who was vindicated in this case. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-autopsy-released/308390/15 "2005-06-15T16:02:42Z")
> [@Mehitabel](#): > > Yep, married men who have two children with other women are fine upstanding citizens. Imagine you die. How long must your spouse remain alone before you believe he (?) may appropriately become involved romantically with someone else? Does this change if a mad scientist hooks your corpse up to a machine that makes it gibber and twitch? Terri was dead. Due to a macabre loophole in our legal system, her corpse was considered alive. Michael was morally a widower, even if legally he was not. > [@](#): > > He didn’t divorce her because he wanted the settlement money. Deal with it. How about instead of my dealing with your lies, YOU deal with his stated reason for not divorcing her–namely, that doing so would have meant putting her into the custody of her parents, who admitted in court that they would be willing to amputate all her limbs one by one if that’s what it took to keep the torso breathing? If you have evidence for thinking otherwise, six months ago was the time to present it. But I’m generous: I’ll give you till the end of the day. If you can’t come up with evidence sufficiently strong to back your horrific accusation against Mr. Schiavo, well, I’ll know what to think. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-autopsy-released/308390/16 "2005-06-15T16:03:36Z")
> [@Mehitabel](#): > > Yep, married men who have two children with other women are fine upstanding citizens. He didn’t divorce her because he wanted the settlement money. Deal with it. Wow. Obviously bearing false witness isn’t a sin in your überhypocritical branch of Christianity. ---
**Author:** ![brownie55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-autopsy-released/308390/17 "2005-06-15T16:04:36Z")
> [@Mehitabel](#): > > Yep, married men who have two children with other women are fine upstanding citizens. He didn’t divorce her because he wanted the settlement money. Deal with it. Ignorance is winning… ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-autopsy-released/308390/18 "2005-06-15T16:08:07Z")
> [@Mehitabel](#): > > He didn’t divorce her because he wanted the settlement money. And to think I wondered whether the pit was an appropriate place to open this thread. Are you fucking insane? Have you learned not even the simple facts about this case? Facts which are not even up for debate? Or are you simply being willfully obtuse? ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-autopsy-released/308390/19 "2005-06-15T16:09:37Z")
How do you know what religion I am? Or who I vote for? And the honest thing to do was to get a legal divorce. If he truly believed he was dead then how could it matter what her parents did to the corpse? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-autopsy-released/308390/20 "2005-06-15T16:12:27Z")
> [@Mehitabel](#): > > How do you know what religion I am? Or who I vote for? And the honest thing to do was to get a legal divorce. If he truly believed he was dead then how could it matter what her parents did to the corpse? When your spouse dies, will you turn the body over to the neighborhood dogs to tear apart and feast on? Will you be okay with someone lopping off your spouse’s limbs, hooking the torso up to a machine, and sending enough juice through it to keep it twitching for years? Maybe you’d be okay with that. Are you really that willing to condemn someone else for NOT wanting their spouse’s remains subjected to indignities? Daniel [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schiavo-autopsy-released/308390.md?page=2)