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| Africa North |
| Lockerbie bomber's diagnosis flawed: Doctors |
| 2010-10-01 |
| [Al Arabiya] Medical experts testifying before Congress Wednesday slammed the diagnosis that led to the controversial release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi, who is still alive more than a year after being told he had just weeks to live. "I'm not the least bit surprised that Mr. Megrahi is alive today, and it should come as absolutely no surprise to the cancer specialists who cared for Mr. Megrahi either," said James Mohler, an oncology specialist who testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations committee. The only man convicted in the bombing, Megrahi was freed by Scotland's devolved government on compassionate grounds, after being diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer and given just three months to live. More than a year later, the convicted Libyan terrorist is still alive however, sparking fury among Americans who believe he should never have been released in the first place. Mohler said it is clear that the diagnosis used to free him was deeply flawed. "It would be very difficult to give a three-month prognosis to a patient who was able to negotiate a flight of stairs," said Mohler, referring to widely broadcast video images that showed Megrahi descending aircraft stairs upon his return to Libya. Another physician at the hearing, Oliver Sartor, concurred with Mohler's assessment, and said he likely would have given a patient in similar condition who had received chemotherapy treatment -- as Megrahi had according to some documents -- a prognosis of around 19 months to live. Megrahi was convicted for his role in the 1988 downing of a Pan Am jumbo jet over Lockerbie, Scotland which killed 270 people, most of them U.S. nationals. His released has galled politicians like U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, who chaired Wednesday's hearing and called the Libyan's release a "miscarriage of justice." "The release on compassionate ground was deeply deeply flawed," said Menendez. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #5 Can we get a drone zap in Libya? |
| Posted by: bigjim-CA 2010-10-01 13:35 |
| #4 I wonder how much cost of care factored into this equation. Of course, Obamacare would do sooo much better, especially with all the money we have left over . . . . |
| Posted by: gorb 2010-10-01 10:03 |
| #3 No need for that Besoeker. But the British are going to have to come to grips with the touch choices their leadership doesn't want to make. |
| Posted by: lotp 2010-10-01 07:48 |
| #2 I realize it sounds rather harsh, but I could envision a special..... gasthaus in Flossenburg reopening for a short time if Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi were to be made available. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-10-01 01:09 |
| #1 So it was all about politics and money, eh? Oh noes! I'm like sooo totally disillusioned. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2010-10-01 00:25 |