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asked the court to have Terri’s feeding tube removed. He writes:
    I was there to determine several things, including if she could track moving objects, could she respond to verbal or physical stimuli, how did she respond, did she drool, and did she have any facial expressions. My findings were that she was not drooling, so she was handling secretions. . . . She did follow especially her mother across the room and focus on her.
    The behaviors I observed from Terri Schiavo are not consistent with someone in PVS. . . . She can be taught to swallow and if she was worked with she could handle oral feedings, which is what I testified in court.
    Let me summarize for you what several of the other doctors told me. Remember, these are not fringe doctors with outlandish theories. Many have been highly recognized in the field of neurology or have authored textbooks, while a number of these professionals have practiced at the finest hospitals and clinics around the world for more than thirty years.
    THE ALL - STARS
    In baseball terms, an all-star team of medical professionals volunteered to go to bat for Terri in early 2005, had Judge Greer welcomed their services. Take Dr. Ricardo G. Senno, who specializes in brain injury medicine. For years he served as the medical director of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago’s Brain Injury Medicine and Rehabilitation Program. He ‘‘strongly’’ recommended a fresh round of testing for Terri using the latest technology.
    Dr. Senno wrote, ‘‘Based on what I have seen, I believe that she is at least in a Minimally Conscious State; she does not appear to be in a persistent vegetative state.’’ In his affidavit, Dr. Senno states,
    I have developed rehabilitation programs for patients just like Terri Schiavo. Because of continued advances in medical testing and treatment, even within the past several years, I believe, from a medical point of view, Ms. Schiavo deserves another evaluation, even if she was examined just a year ago. . . . Just because Ms. Terri Schiavo couldn’t physically or mentally do something a year ago, doesn’t mean she can’t do it today, or tomorrow.
    Leaving all ethical, moral, and legal aspects aside, I believe it is a medical crime not to evaluate this person.
    Consider Dr. Rodney Dunaway, a board certified neurologist who trained at Walter Reed hospital during the Vietnam War. In his capacity Dr. Dunaway saw ‘‘literally hundreds of brain-injured young men.’’ He served as consultant in neurology to the NASA flight surgeon during a number of Apollo missions. In his professional opinion:
    The diagnostic studies upon which the decision to terminate her life have been based . . . were inadequate, and insufficient to allow a reasoned opinion by her physicians. In my opinion, further neurological studies are needed before a declaration of persistent vegetative state can be made.
    Time and again, many of the doctors we heard from believed Terri was at worst in a minimally conscious state (MCS). Unlike those who are in PVS, patients who are in MCS have a much greater possibility of improving with therapy. What’s more, modern advances in medical technology are such that brain function—not just brain anatomy—can be tested by using a brain SPECT, or imaging technology. So says Dr. J. Michael Uszler, an attending staff physician in nuclear medicine at the UCLA Medical Center. Dr. Uszler confirms my earlier point that the study of the human brain is constantly being refined.
    Many physicians felt there was sufficient doubt over the diagnosis of PVS to warrant reevaluation. The American Association of Physicians and Surgeons, representing more than four thousand physicians, requested Terri be reevaluated. All appeals to the court, however, were denied.
    The diagnosis of PVS had been made three years earlier in 2002. Much had changed since then. In particular, the minimally conscious state was just