Above is a CT scan of Terri Schiavo’s brain that was part of the diagnosis process of Dr. Ron Cranford, a highly respected neurologist, who served on the ethics committee of the American Academy of Neurology. Dr. Cranford examined Mrs. Schiavo as part of the original trial. In describing the scan he said her brain showed very little but scar tissue and spinal fluid. An electroencephalogram measuring electrical activity in the thinking areas of her brain showed no evidence of continued function, he added. “It is totally flat—nothing, and this is very unusual,”Cranford said. “The vast majority of people in a persistent vegetative state show about 5% of normal brain activity.

Of the six other neurologists who have examined Schiavo , four agreed she was in a persistent vegetative state. The court rejected the diagnosis of the two dissenters, calling one of them a “self promoter” who “offered no names, no case studies, no videos and no test results” to support a claim that he could cure serious brain damage.