Truemors
is reporting from
Member
NP Rank:
NP Rank:
Jett Travolta Autopsy Report: Seizure Diagnosis 'Premature'
Share:
by Terri Potratz | January 5, 2009 at 06:47 pm
1693 views | 13 Recommendations | 5 comments
Following Jett Travolta's autopsy, in which the cause of death was listed as "seizure," various professionals are weighing in on both the accuracy and plausibility of the report.
Considerable confusion surrounding Jett's psychological condition has sparked intense public interest in this extremely sad event; did he have autism? Kawasaki Syndrome? Both, neither? And how does Scientology factor into all of this?
Jett's body was cremated under the supervision of their family doctor immediately following the autopsy - the Travolta family was not present.
Dr. Cyil Wecht, a forensic pathologist, spoke on Larry King Live this evening and called the diagnosis "premature" because 'death by seizure' is not a finding that could be visible to the naked eye. It can only be determined through the exclusion of other causes, and then verified by looking at closely at slides and toxicology reports, which take days to process.
There is nothing of significance to find, anatomically speaking. The only way you can make that diagnosis is if you rule out everything else, including drugs in a toxicology report. If that is the case, that could take a couple of weeks.”
Wecht also expressed his surprise at the speed with which the Travolta's disclosed the cause of Jett's death to the public - though the official autopsy report has not been released.
Supposedly there was no trauma to Jett's body, a revelation which means initial suspicions that he may have died from hitting his head on the bathtub, or from complications between a seizure and head trauma, appear incorrect.
Michael McDermott, an attorney for the actor, said that police wrongly left the impression that Jett was unsupervised. He said that two nannies were with Jett throughout the evening.
Mr McDermott and Michael Ossie, who represent the star, told the website TMZ.com that Jett suffered frequent seizures and that "each was like a death", with the boy losing consciousness and convulsing. Jett took the anti-seizure drug Depakote for several years, reducing the frequency of his seizures from an average of every four days to once every three weeks, they said, but the drug lost its effectiveness. The Travoltas, after consulting neurosurgeons, stopped administering it and Jett went back to having one seizure a week.
While the public cries out for respect and privacy there are also many outstanding questions - particularly with respect to Jett's health, regardless of whether or not his condition(s) had anything to do with his death.
The Travoltas' belief in Scientology, a "pseudo-religion" which doesn't recognize psychological disorders, has also intensified the discussion and confusion surrounding Jett's tragic death.
What is NowPublic?
NowPublic lets people work together to cover news events around the world.
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (5)
at 20:25 on January 5th, 2009
This whole thing is so sad.... It doesn't matter what Jett had he was a loved and very cared for child. I am sure that the Travolta's did everything that the thought they was the best for Jett. Being a mom I have worried about the fact the vaccines can have on my kids but yet I still have them done. The Travolta's did what they thought was best and no matter what they loved Jett with everything they had... All of the speculation in the world will not bring him back. I have been where they are and this will take lots of time and I will send all of my good thoughts and prayers to them.
at 23:56 on January 5th, 2009
Jett Travolta was the most searched keyword on Google the 2nd of January. I dont like all the fuss about this, media need to be humble towards this.
at 02:47 on January 6th, 2009
Maybe we should wait before casting judgement on this issue since it seems rather confusing.
at 08:14 on January 6th, 2009
I feel very sorry for both John and Kelly to have lost their son - they were obviously great parents to him.
It really frustrates me that the media is trying to make an entertaining, sensationalist story (speculating on Jett's mental health ) out of something so tragic. There never was any evidence of Jett's autism, and seeing as he died of a seizure, it doesn't matter, does it?
at 18:37 on January 6th, 2009
As a mother of a child with autism, all one has to do is watch a video or google photos of Jett and it SEEMS plain as day that he an autism spectrum disorder as he displays many, many symptoms such as toe walking, holding his fingers funny, bad eye contact, rocking and visual stimming (wiggling his fingers in front of his face). Whether or not he did wel probably never know and it is none of our business anyway. There is no specific treatment for autism, you just treat the symptoms like ocd etc. And from what I have been hearing he was treated for his seizures with an anticonvulsant but was recently taken off because of bad side effects. This is not abnormal. Some take thier children off one medication and try another like we have done with my son and some dont medicate thier children at all and just watch the condition closely. They are not alone in thier decision to do this.
Either way this is very sad and my heart goes out to them tremendously and they are in my prayers.