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Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. III - Page 377« Previous | Next »

(Testimony of Dr. Malcolm Perry)

Mr. Mccloy.
He would have had a relatively normal life?
Dr. PERRY. Yes, sir.
Mr. Mccloy.
Did you, any other time, or other than the press conference or any other period, say that you thought this was an exit wound?
Dr. PERRY. No, sir; I did not.
Mr. Mccloy.
When the President was brought, when you first saw the President, was he fully clothed, or did you cut the clothing away?
Dr. PERRY. Not at the time I saw him. Dr. Carrico and the nurses were all in attendance, they had removed his coat and his shirt, which is standard procedure, while we were proceeding about the examination, for them to do so.
Mr. Mccloy.
But you didn't actually remove his shirt?
Dr. PERRY. No, sir; I did not.
Mr. Mccloy.
Did you get the doctor's experience with regard to gunshot wounds?
Mr. Specter.
Yes, sir; I did.
Mr. Mccloy.
You said something to the effect that, of knowing the President had an adrenalin insufficiency, is that something you could observe?
Dr. PERRY. This is common medical knowledge, sir, that he had had in the past necessarily taken adrenalin steroids to support this insufficiency. Dr. Carrico, at this moment of great stress, recalled this, and requested this be given to him at that time, this is extremely important because people who have adrenalin insufficiency are unable to mobilize this hormone at the time of any great stress and it may be fatal without support from exogeneous drugs.
Mr. Mccloy.
In other words, you had a general medical history of the President before he was-- common knowledge.
Dr. PERRY. No more so than anyone else, sir, except this would have stuck with us, sir, since they were already in that line.
Mr. Mccloy.
Did you discuss with any of the other doctors present, and you named quite a number of them, as to whether this was an exit wound or an entrance wound?
Dr. PERRY. Yes, sir; we did at the time. But our discussion was necessarily limited by the fact that none of us knew, someone asked me now--you must remember that actually the only people who saw this wound for sure were Dr. Carrico and myself, and some of the other doctors were quoted as saying something about the wound which actually they never said at all because they never saw it, because on their arrival I had already made the incision through the wound, and despite what the press releases may have said neither Dr. Carrico nor myself could say whether it was an entrance or an exit wound from the nature of the wound itself and Dr. McClelland was quoted, for example, as saying he thought it was an exit wound, but that was not what he said at all because he didn't even see it.
Mr. Mccloy.
And it is a fact, is it not, that you did not see what we now are supposed to believe was the entrance wound?
Dr. PERRY. No, sir; we did not examine him. At that time, we attended to the matters of expediency that were life-saving and the securing of an adequate airway and the stanching of massive hemorrhage are really the two medical emergencies; most everything else can wait, but those must be attended to in a matter of minutes and consequently to termination of treatment I had no morbid curiosity, my work was done, and actually I was rather anxious to leave.
Mr. Mccloy.
That is all.
Mr. Specter.
Yes.
(Discussion off the record.)
Mr. Dulles.
I suggest, Mr. Specter, if you feel it is feasible, you send to the doctor the accounts of his press conference or conferences.
And possibly, if you are willing, sir, you could send us a letter, send to the Commission a letter, pointing out the various points in these press conferences where you are inaccurately quoted, so we can have that as a matter of record.
Is that feasible?
Dr. PERRY. That is, sir.
Would you prefer that each clipping be edited individually or a general statement?
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