“John had a hyperextension injury. I don’t believe it’s a matter of opinion,” Abdunnur said. “I think it’s objective fact that’s based on the objective CT scan that he had.”
Abdunnur had acknowledged earlier in his testimony that the CT scan taken when Paxin had gotten to the hospital was reviewed by a radiologist who thought they were looking at a “chance fracture,” a term of art from the days before shoulder seatbelts when crash victims would wrench forward and their spines would flex and also slightly distract, or pull apart.
But he said the radiologist was simply wrong.
“It is every bit of my job to know CT scans, MRIs and X-rays of the head and neck better than any radiologist, and as good or better as any neurosurgeon,” Abdunnur said, calling it one of the “most fundamental components of any neurosurgeon’s practice.”
On cross-examination, Abdunnur acknowledged to defense lawyer Tom Klein that on medical paperwork created very shortly after Paxin arrived at the hospital, the words “chance fracture” — in other words, a flexion injury — were present. However, there was nothing about an extension or hyperextension injury.
