Monday, November 19, 2007

Doctors Tell of Frantic Efforts To Revive Son of Anna Nicole Smith
By TOSHEENA ROBINSON-BLAIR

Doctors told a Coroner’s Court on Monday about their frantic efforts to resuscitate the son of the late American celebrity Anna Nicole Smith, when he fell into an unconscious state while visiting his mother in the maternity ward at Doctors Hospital more than a year ago. The coroner’s inquest into the mysterious death of Daniel Smith, 20, got underway – after two false starts – with the first six of 35 witnesses called to the stand to give testimony.

Among the witnesses were emergency room physician Dr. James Iferenta and anesthesiologist, Dr. Reginald Neymour. Dr. Iferenta told the court that resuscitation efforts lasted 25 to 30 minutes and that Ms. Smith clung to her son’s lifeless body. Dr. Neymour testified that despite medication being administered and efforts to revive him, Smith never regained a pulse or a heartbeat.

Also called to the stand was California attorney Howard K. Stern, the former attorney and companion of Ms Smith. He told the court that he identified Daniel Smith in the morgue.
...The first witness to be called to the stand was Inspector Albury St. Louis, who is attached to the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s Criminal Records Office. Inspector St. Louis testified that he took six photographs of Smith at the Princess Margaret Hospital’s Rand Lab, right before an autopsy on September 12. He told the court that he observed "pinkish reddish abrasions" to the pelvic and upper shoulder area on the deceased’s naked body, which lay on a trolley.
The policeman said he took pictures of the abrasions, with and without a measuring tape. Inspector St. Louis gave copies of the photo album he compiled to the coroner, jury and attorneys representing interested parties in the matter and pointed out the abrasions to the court. The officer testified that he also delivered the post mortem kit – which consisted of blood, nasal swabs, pubic hairs, eye fluid and stomach contents – to another officer.

The second witness to be called was Marva Gibson, a grade two immigration officer stationed at Nassau International Airport. She testified that she processed Smith when he entered The Bahamas and granted him his request of a 90-day stay. "He was very quiet and conservative at the time," she told the court, when questioned by Neil Brathwaite of the Attorney General’s Office. Ms. Gibson told the court that she remembered the deceased because he did not have his immigration card completely filled out, as it was lacking the address he would be staying at.
When pressed about where he would reside while in the Bahamas, Ms. Gibson told the court that Smith said he would be staying with his mother, Anna Nicole Smith, at the Horizon Estates on the Eastern Road. "He was very cooperative and gave me the information I needed to complete the (immigration) process," Ms. Gibson said.

Mr. Stern was the third witness called to give testimony. He was on the stand for less than five minutes and told the court that he knew Smith "very well." The Californian attorney said he met the deceased in 1997, through Ms. Smith. "She (Anna Nicole) was very close with Danny and I saw it," he said. "Almost every time I saw Anna Nicole she had Danny with her."
Mr. Stern testified that when he identified Smith at the morgue, forensic pathologist Dr. Govinda Raju, coroner Linda Virgill (who was coroner at the time), and representatives from the U.S. Embassy, among others were present. Mr. Stern was shown the six-picture album compiled by Inspector St Louis. He identified the body in the photos as Smith’s.
Mr. Brathwaite indicated that Mr. Stern might need to be recalled to the witness stand.

The next witness up was Dr. Neymour – an anesthesiologist who sometimes works at, but is not employed by Doctors Hospital. According to his testimony, he was the second doctor to arrive at Ms. Smith’s Doctors Hospital room following a code blue alert, which signals that a patient has gone into a cardiac arrest. Dr. Neymour told the court that he arrived at Ms. Smith’s room 30 seconds after hearing the code blue alert at 9:40am, and two minutes before the hospital’s emergency team arrived. He told the court that he met another doctor performing chest compressions "on a young male in room 201 on the maternity ward." The doctor testified that he felt for a pulse and did an assessment to see if the patient was breathing.
"I placed a face mask on him. He had no pulse and no heart beat," Dr. Neymour testified.
He said he placed an endo-tracheal tube into Smith’s windpipe and an IV into the backside of his left hand. He said the medicine administered through both devices was designed to start the heartbeat and increase blood pressure. However, the anesthesiologist said the patient never responded to any of the drugs during the 20 minutes that he remained in the room.
He told the court that he left the room to take care of another patient in the operating theatre.

Both Dr. Neymour and Dr. Iferenta claimed they were the second doctor to arrive in Ms. Smith’s room after the code blue alert went out.

Dr. Iferenta told the court he arrived in the room within 30 seconds of the alert.
But under cross-examination by attorney Milton Evans, who is representing the interest of the maternal grandmother and father of the deceased, Dr. Iferenta said he arrived after Dr. Neymour. Given the scope of the resuscitation work done before he arrived on the scene, Dr. Iferenta admitted that he could not have arrived in 30 seconds. Dr. Iferenta was provided with his notes from Doctors Hospital’s attorney Michaela Sumner-Budhi to help him refresh his memory after Mr. Evans pointed out "gaps" in the witness’ testimony. He told the court that the hospital’s emergency response team is comprised of at least two nurses, a pharmacist, a radiologist, and two security guards. He said the team is about 10-persons strong. Dr. Iferenta told the court that a nurse informed him that Smith was "found unconscious next to the patient." When asked by Mr. Stern’s attorney Wayne Munroe who was in the room at the time of the resuscitation efforts other than hospital personnel, Dr. Iferenta testified that Ms. Smith was also present and was "emotional." "There were difficulties in getting her out of the room and she clung on to him (Smith) during my time in the room," Dr. Iferenta said.
The doctor testified that a number of males were in the room who tried to get her to release the patient. It was unclear whether this was during or after resuscitation efforts.

The court also heard testimony from Dr. Caroline Burnett, who merely testified that she pronounced Smith dead at the Princess Margaret Hospital when the funeral home brought the body in to be "tagged."