'Serious Lapses In Judgement' Worsened Schumacher's Prognosis

Former F1 doctor Gary Hartstein believes that "serious lapses in judgement were evident during Michael's initial assessment", which "could (and almost certainly did) worsen the outcome in Michael's case".

Hartstein made the comment on his blog, while discussing why the German star hasn't been transferred to a hospital nearer to his home.

"It is possible that the staff at Grenoble feel duty-bound to NOT place any pressure on the family to transfer out, despite the terribly dismal prognosis... because of the clear (but unquantifiable) contribution of medical misjudgement to that prognosis."

To accuse the initial responders of incompetence, Hartstein must have a lot of faith in his "usually impeccable sources who have access to this information". Although he would not reveal exactly what mismanagement occured, he does defend the hospital in Grenoble, stating that Schumacher's family could have the 45-year-old moved, but the fact they haven't shows they have faith in the treatment he is receiving.

Worryingly, Hartstein's tone is incredibly pessimistic. He addresses a few medical terms such as 'brain dead' and 'persistent vegetative state' "because I’ve got a feeling that we’ll be hearing some of them at some point in the not-distant future."

Despite these words, we're certainly not giving up hope of a heroic Schumacher recovery.