Schumacher may never recover due to 'serious lapses of judgment' in medical care: Ex-F1 doctor

The former chief medical officer of Formula One has said that he believes that the comatose Michael Schumacher will never recover as there have been 'serious lapses of judgment' in his ongoing medical care.

The retired seven-time German champion has now been in a coma for 87 days since a ski accident at the French Alps during a family holiday and is undergoing treatment at a Grenoble hospital.

According to News.com.au, F1 sport's chief doctor between 2005 and 2012, Gary Hartstein said that it is now unlikely that the Ferrari legend would ever recover as he had information from 'usually impeccable sources' that Schumacher's care had been mismanaged.

Stating that it becomes less likely that Schumacher will emerge to any significant extent as time goes on, Hartstein said that the lapses 'could, and almost certainly did, worsen the outcome in the F1 legend's case'.

Hartstein also said that the 'terribly dismal prognosis' of Schumacher's long-term recovery prospects had led to the doctors at the Grenoble hospital discouraging his family to transfer him to a specialised clinic better equipped to deal with people in long-term comas.

Hartstein also said that it is also possible that the staff at Grenoble hospital felt duty-bound to not place any pressure on the family to transfer Schumacher to another hospital because of the 'clear (but unquantifiable) contribution of medical misjudgment to that prognosis'.