GIST: "But while she was emotional during his testimony, the doctor testified Thursday that Spears initially had little reaction when he told her Garnett was unlikely to survive. "She had a very flat affect," he said. "She would stare at me. I felt like she was looking right through me." But defense lawyer Stephen Riebling read back a transcript of Goltzman's testimony before the grand jury that indicted Spears last year during which he said Spears fell on her knees and broke down when told about Garnett's likely demise. Riebling also read back the transcript of a taped conversation between Goltzman and Nyack Hospital personnel where the doctor accused them of "sitting on this kid all day" and lying about the severity of the boy's illness after learning that Garnett's salt levels were 182 and the boy showed signs of metabolic acidosis, a condition that could have been caused by diarrhea. Goltzman shot back that while Garnett might have lost sodium bicarbonate through his stool due to the acidosis, that should have lowered his salt levels, not result in abnormally high ones.........
The defense lawyer also questioned whether the Westchester hospital ignored possible signs of brain swelling or cerebral edema, citing notes from a nurse that said Garnett was arching his back in pain and complained of headaches, a possible symptom, the night before he coded. "If that had been the result of the cerebral edema starting earlier in the night, could the hospital have taken preventable action?" Riebling asked. Goltzman said the notes were hearsay and the nurse who was with Garnett overnight told the doctor the boy denied having a headache. Complaints of a headache might have come from Spears. "She told me she did not witness agitation," Goltzman said of the nurse. "She asked him if his head hurt and he said 'no,' and that he just wanted to go home.""
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.
The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
I look forward to hearing from readers at:
hlevy15@gmail.com.
Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;