NYT: Account of Doctors Raises Questions on Heart Injury

[Patsy Stone]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/15/politics/15heart.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN
Published: February 15, 2006

The account given yesterday by doctors caring for the Texas lawyer accidentally shot by Vice President Dick Cheney last weekend raises serious questions about how and when a pellet entered his heart and what tests were done to establish where the pellet was lodged, doctors not connected with his case said.

Although the public was told for the first time yesterday that a shotgun pellet from a hunting accident had lodged in the lawyer's heart, one of his doctors said that "we knew that he had some birdshot very close to the heart from the get-go," but not its precise location.

Such evidence would have come from standard chest X-rays and a CT scan if one was performed shortly after his admission to a hospital in Corpus Christi, Tex.

<snip>

Dr. Peter Banko, the Texas hospital's emergency department medical director, said doctors there did an ultrasound, a CT scan and a cardiac catheterization, which provide two-dimensional images. Dr. Banko said the hospital had a 64-slice CT scan that could provide three-dimensional images, but he did not say that the doctors performed the more sophisticated one on Mr. Whittington, or if so, when.

<snip>

[aquart]

1. I want to know how he was able to talk with a faceful of birdshot.

They did say he was laughing and joking, right? How?

[aquart]

3. Now Slate is saying two pellets hit his larynx. How could he speak???

<http://firedoglake.blogspot.com/>
According to Slate:

The official story is that the blast from the vice president's shotgun hit Whittington at a distance of 30 yards. Hunters at the Vaughn Building are skeptical. The hunt took place on a cold, windy afternoon. Whittington and his fellow hunters were probably wearing warm clothing—say, a jacket and a flannel shirt. Cheney was using a 28-gauge shotgun, a smaller-diameter firearm with pellets smaller than BBs. Whittington's friends question whether the pellets could have penetrated his layers of clothing and skin at that range. Yet two pellets lodged against his larynx, another was in his liver, and another migrated into the heart muscle, causing the heart attack. The pattern of wounds was between the lower chest and the forehead, a pretty tight zone for shot of 30 yards. If the range was considerably less than 30 yards, then it is likely that Whittington's injuries were worse than the initial statement by Katharine Armstrong indicated. (The blast "knocked him silly," but "he was fine.")

[Patsy Stone]

9. Thanks for that

I had no idea about the larynx and liver.

[Judi Lynn]

7. Oh, yeah! Fox radio news also had some woman's sound bite who claimed

he was "chatting" and "flirting with the nurses." Jesus H. Christ. That was in the early morning hours Tuesday, I think.

How many people at 78, shot up, face full of pellets REALLY feel like "flirting?" That sounded so bogus.

[DBoon]

13. Yeah, and we had reports about Terry Schiavo "talking" too

all we need is for Dr. Frist to review the video and proclaim the shooting victim fit and unharmed.

[hunter]

16. If Whittington is stroked out it explains a lot of things, doesn't it?

I kept thinking this yesterday when news reports kept saying Whittington didn't notice the "minor" heart attack.

If it's really not so serious as all this, just what the hell are they doing? It doesn't make any sense. What do they plan to do if he dies? Announce that Whittington died of "natural causes" aggravated by a shotgun injury?

This is just plain weird.

[Tesha]

20. Yes, but Whittington's eyes "followed a quail held up in front of him..."

Yes, but Whittington's eyes "followed a quail held up in front of
him" in hospital :evilgrin:.

Tesha

[Media_Lies_Daily]

10. Remember how Reagan was supposed to be alert and joking with....

...his doctors when he was brought into the hospital? That wasn't true either.

Just your standard cover story.

[951-Riverside]

21. On Inside Edition they claimed Cheney talked to Whittington yesterday too

Anyone else see that?

[AndyTiedye]

2. Looks Like He Was Shot in the Heart to Me

[Wwagsthedog]

4. cheney's hunting license?

Wasn't he issued a citation for not having proper hunting credentials?

[free4now]

5. It does look like a direct hit

Check out where the middle of his shot landed.
Hes a pretty good shot.

:hide:

[Wwagsthedog]

8. Hello free4now! Glad to have you aboard. nt

[Solly Mack]

6. He didn't have the proper stamp for upland bird hunting

there's a hunting license - but not the proper extra stamp required to make upland bird hunting legal.

[Ferry Fey]

11. At the risk of showing unseemly attention to detail...

Game Warden can't spell "Observatory" correctly (Cheney's home address), and doesn't understand that when you color in the heart area on the form as the target, you have to say it is the victim's LEFT side, even though it's on the right as you are looking at it.

[Solly Mack]

12. lol! Oh, risk it! risk it!

[AndyTiedye]

25. He Had a Licence, But Was Missing an Upland Bird-Shooting Stamp

You don't need a stamp for lawyers in Texas.

[sattahipdeep]

14. Goldfish....The Adventure Begins---Sing baby sing

An associate of Wade, Brent Wilkes, president of a
Poway company called ADCS Inc., also gave Cunningham
campaign cash and favors. Wilkes reportedly flew Cunningham in a
corporate jet to go hunting in Idaho.

:silly: :rofl:

[Peace Patriot]

15. If I may brag a little, I called this yesterday. I was asking in all

these Shootinggate threads, how could they have MISSED these pellets in or near his heart or arteries, and let him out of ICU. I'm ignorant about medical technology, so I was asking about MRIs (why didn't an MRI catch it?), but others said you can't get an MRI if you have metal in you (duh). I didn't think of a CT-scan, and I wasn't sure if X-rays could find all pellets. Anyway, it struck me as very odd that they let Whittington out of ICU with pellets near his heart (or that could migrate there).

My other "suspicious official story" question is about the Secret Service: They're out there with a bunch of old guys playing with guns, and their mission is to protect the V-P. And they're saying they let one of these guys leave the group, rifle in hand, disappear from view, and come back unseen and "surprise" Cheney? I don't think so. Unless the Secret Service was also drunk--or something far more sinister was/is occurring (f.i., Whittington blackmailing Cheney, Cheney tried to take him out but didn't kill him, and the disappearing from view story is a total fabrication/coverup).

[hunter]

17. They wouldn't worry so much about his heart if his brain was going bad.

I hate to fuel the fires, but something is really rotten here.

[midnight armadillo]

22. X-rays should find 'em

The absorption cross section of lead or steel is vastly greater than that of soft tissue with X-rays, so they would show up quite nicely in an X-ray.

[sattahipdeep]

23. Why?

Sibel Edmonds said....But how are the ends possibly met by such activities?

SE: I'm no expert, but from what I have personally seen I can say that
our national security is being compromised every day, because
important investigations are being stopped, and potentially important
clues are being overlooked. It's absolutely incredible that even after
9/11, certain individuals, foreign businessmen and others, among
others, are still escaping scrutiny.


In the past three years, I have been threatened; I have been gagged several times;
I have continuously been prevented from pursuing my due process; all reports and
investigations looking into my case have been classified; and every governmental
or investigative authority dealing with my case has been shut up. According to legal
experts familiar with my case, the level of secrecy and classification in my court case
and the attitudes and handling of the court system in dealing with my case is
unprecedented in the entire U.S. court history. According to other experts I am one of
the most, if not the most, gagged woman anybody knows of or has heard of. Why?

http://www.justacitizen.com/articles_documents/May14-05-Gagged%20but%20not%20Dead.htm

Sibel Edmonds called this yr's ago :hi:

[jazzjunkysue]

24. I agree. Even if it wasn't the SS, who goes out shooting with a 78

year old man and keeps shooting when the old man is out of sight?

Come on! You assign people to watch for them, so they don't wander off. They're 78. You watch out for 78 year olds when there are guns being fired.

I'm sorry. I just don't buy all of this. I think he was wasted.

No one tells the police to go away and come back tomorrow. It just looks too suspicious, and Cheney knows it. He sent them away because he had to. Period. He also handled it badly because he had to. He was wasted.

This is total BS. There's more here that we don't know.

No one lets a woman leak this to the local press. It's just not done. Cheney knows that.

[ConcernedCanuk]

18. To hit a man with that many pellets in the lower left breast like that

.
.
.

You'd have to be staring right into his face as you aimed

Or just fired in the general direction without even looking

But an "experienced" hunter would never fire without looking

Story stinks

It was NOT an accident,

unless Cheney was blind drunk,

or worse, taken a coke/perc or other similar habit

But they got them WH wizards writing and re-writing whatever lies the VP is gonna present to the World.

Must be a tough one - 5 days later, not one word from the VP

THAT says more than he will ever be able to convince thinking people of

Alas, not enuf thinking people in the electorate down there

Putting Bush back in is enuf proof of that for me . .

And that worries me

(sigh)

[MGKrebs]

19. I think it's pretty pathetic that Cheney is shooting at birds 5ft.

off the ground. What kind of hunting is that? Asking for trouble.

[superconnected]

26. too many lies. Knowing busco, the guy is on his death bed.

If he dies Cheney will likely recind his apology and insist it wasn't his fault.

Even though the lawyer was involved in Funeral gate I hope he doesn't die. He's probably got kids and of course his wife who cares about him.

If he lives, at his age, recovery from things like that are very difficult. Cheney has screwed him up. I'm sure of it.

If the guy does die - which sounds far more likely since bushco is always opposite the truth, then I bet the guys family presses charges. They should.

But like I said, I hope he doesn't die. And not for cheneys sake, Cheney can kick the bucket for all I care. I just hate to see an old man go like that.