Bryan Stow, the San Francisco Giants fan who was badly beaten outside Dodger Stadium in March, was taken off of one of his anti-seizure medications on Tuesday, his doctor said today.
Dr. Geoff Manley, chief of neurosurgery at San Francisco General Hospital, said doctors in Los Angeles had placed Stow on five medications in an attempt to control his seizures.
One was discontinued on Tuesday, and Stow hasn’t had any seizures since then, Manley said at a news conference this morning at the hospital.
Stow, 42, was placed in a medically induced coma after he was beaten by two suspects outside Dodger stadium after a Giants vs. Dodgers game on March 31.
He was at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center until Monday, when he was flown to the Bay Area and brought to San Francisco General Hospital.
Since then, Manley said, Stow has been opening and closing his eyes and showing signs of primitive functions, as he was in Los Angeles. Stow is still considered to be in critical but stable condition.
Manley said it is hard to determine Stow’s prognosis in part because much remains unknown about the brain.
“The more I’ve learned, the less we probably know,” Manley said.
He said there are many mysteries surrounding brain injury, which he called “a great silent epidemic.”
“Traumatic brain injury is where cancer was 40 or 50 years ago,” Manley said.
He said San Francisco General Hospital treats many elderly patients with brain injuries, and that Stow’s relatively young age is an advantage.
Manley said he is in regular contact with Stow’s doctors in Los Angeles and consulted with them before taking Stow off the medication on Tuesday.
The Giants will play their first series at Dodger Stadium since Stow’s attack starting tonight.
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