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Friday, Feb 24, 2006

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Posted on Fri, Feb. 24, 2006

BOOT-CAMP DEATH

Autopsy finding on boy 'surprises' state doctor

A state doctor expressed 'surprise' over the autopsy of Martin Lee Anderson, and the medical examiner who performed it now acknowledges the beating the teen received may have contributed to his death.

By MARC CAPUTO

mcaputo@MiamiHerald.com

at the state Department of Juvenile Justice,
on Martin Lee Anderson's autopsy that said

the 14-year-old died due to sickle-cell trait

The top doctor at Florida's juvenile-justice agency said Thursday that she was ''surprised'' that a medical examiner ruled that complications from a blood disorder killed Martin Lee Anderson, who died after he was beaten by boot-camp guards.

Dr. Shairi Turner, speaking to lawmakers, also defended a memo she wrote in which she quoted the Bay County medical examiner as telling her it was ''highly unusual'' that he was asked to perform the autopsy even though Martin, 14, died at a hospital in a neighboring county, where he was flown for treatment. Turner, a Harvard-trained pediatrician who is chief medical director at the state Department of Juvenile Justice, is the highest-level agency official to express concern about the autopsy conducted by Dr. Charles Siebert, whom Gov. Jeb Bush has defended. Siebert stands by his report and says Turner misquoted him in her memo, written three days after Martin's Jan. 6 death.

Shortly after the teen's death, Turner interviewed all the medical personnel who treated Martin.

Siebert told The Miami Herald on Thursday that the treatment by guards could have played a ''bit of a role'' in Martin's death. But he said strenuous exercise, such as the laps Martin was ordered to run, was likely the leading cause of death because his sickle-shaped cells scraped his blood vessels, causing internal bleeding while depleting blood-clotting agents.

But Turner, echoing specialists on sickle-cell trait, said Siebert's finding was ''new to me'' because she thought such deaths happened in ''very, very extreme situations.'' Turner said she has ''taken care of many children who have had sickle-cell disease and very much understand sickle-cell trait'' and ``was surprised that that was what they felt was the ultimate cause of his death.''

She was also intrigued by Martin's autopsy being performed in Bay, and not Escambia County.

'I asked [Siebert]: `Is it usual practice to move the body from one county to another?' And he said 'No. It was highly unusual.' And that's what I put in my report and that's what I have in my notes. He said it was done at the request of the sheriff. And I stand completely by that statement because I took notes as he was speaking,'' Turner told the House criminal justice appropriations committee.

But Siebert said the autopsy was done in a standard fashion and that it was transferred to his office because the manhandling Martin received happened in Panama City, where Siebert's headquarters are. He said it's a common practice for an autopsy to be performed in a jurisdiction where an incident occurred. Any suggestion to the contrary was a mistake on Turner's part, he said.

Siebert said he ''was a little shocked to hear all the controversy about'' his autopsy report because the cause of death is ''not an uncommon thing. There are reported cases of it in the literature.'' But even he was somewhat taken aback by the video of Martin's treatment by guards, which Siebert said he saw after the autopsy.

''It was not what I would expect. Obviously, there was some contact going on. But that's a situation that I'm not familiar with so I don't know what's appropriate dealing in those situations because I don't deal with kids on that level,'' he said. ``. . . There's no way around it: There was some physical altercation.''

Bush has said he didn't see the video, despite all the news stories and its airing on CNN and TV stations around the state.

But he, too, wondered this week to what degree exercise and the treatment by guards contributed to Martin's death.

Responded Siebert: ``It's certainly possible that maybe it played a bit of a role because it is going to increase your exertion level. But I think by that time the whole event had already been started. Had they not beaten him, would he have still died from this? It's certainly possible, yes.''

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