Terry Schiavo

[firefighter139]

First off, this happens to hundreds of people each year. It is a normal procedure to do, why all of the sudden is this one case controlling the world and deciding our future right to die? To you or I starving is a cruel way to die but to a person who has no (normal) brain functions and by the meds the Dr's will give her she will die a very peaceful death. Dr's use this procedure all the time.

Second I also agree that it is her husband who the Dr's should listen to. I have talked many times to my wife about having the plug pulled but never to my parents or other family members. It just isn't a subject you bring up at the dinner table or at family get togethers.

Third, who do you think is paying for all of her medical care all these years... yup us. Once her million dollar claim was settled that money went to her care. Once that was gone (which probably didn't take to long) she had no more insurance. It has been proved that there is no way any treatment would help her or is there any treatment even being tested that would help her. It also is proved that her body movements are just nerves twitching not controlled movements. So her husband has every right to say "let her die in peace" now.

[Ridryder 911]

As others stated "this happens every day"..is right. However; we do have laws.. written & documented living wills & D.N.R's.

Maybe, lets look at it in a field perceptive. You arrive at scene with a patient in cardiac arrest, history of illnesses, no written DNR or living will. The family tells you "he did not wished to be worked" ..Do you go on hear-say ? do you not start resuscitation measures? Or do you tell them without proper documentation, you have to resuscitate.. (according to rule of best interest of the patient) .

This is the debate, the family could not agree. Yes, it was a horrible state for both parties. What I do not understand is the spouse went on with his life (new wife & family) , he still wanted to control Terrie's. With the family wanting to continue tx, would it had not more simple to allow this ? Yes, he wanted to fulfill her wishes, & yes he promised her.. just as he promised to be faithful ...hmmm. Selective promising, I guess.

My prayers our with both parties & the medical staff that had to deal with this horrible chaos.

Be safe, Ridryder 911

[MediRideEMS]

I read your posts with interest, but I haven't seen anyone make a connection in relation to the EMS field. I'm not quite sure how it works in other states, but here in Michigan, if we respond to assist a patient and that patient is unresponsive, the law requires us to treat that patient unless there is a signed DNR or living will in place. If the patient's wishes are not documented, we MUST err on the side of treatment, or preservation of that patient's life, regardless of what that patient's spouse or family asserts regarding that patient. The natural assumption is that the patient would want to live. Without written orders or wishes that MUST be the assumption. I think the same rule should have applied for Terri Schiavo. How are we to know what her wishes were. We can't know, therefore, it should've been the court's responsibility to uphold her life.

[RichmondMedik]

I am still amazed how we treat our pets better than our "loved" ones -- terri is not the one grieving or in pain but the people who were selfish are !!!!!

[Guest]

I feel for Terri and her family.. This should of been a private time for them. They choices made were between terri and her husband, I know in the past I have told my husband the same thing so that is sooo possible,... I totally disagree with starving her, and dehydration.. Who are we or any one else to state the quality of life a person has.. God has plans for everyone, and Terri did live many years with no life support, just a feeding tube heck every one has to eat... Terri's life now will be remembered for a very long time and this prolly did help some folks. Those who thought about DNR's, Advanced Directives, well those folks now prolly have it in writing for the future...

[THE_DITCH_DOCTOR]

Schiavo Autopsy Shows Massive Brain Damage

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050615/ap_on_...HNlYwNjaWQ3MTg-

LARGO, Fla. - An autopsy on Terri Schiavo backed her husband's contention that she was in a persistent vegetative state, finding that she had massive and irreversible brain damage and was blind, the medical examiner's office said Wednesday. It also found no evidence that she was strangled or otherwise abused.

But what caused her collapse 15 years earlier remained a mystery. The autopsy and post-mortem investigation found no proof that she had an eating disorder, as was suspected at the time, Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner Jon Thogmartin said.

Autopsy results on the 41-year-old brain-damaged woman were made public Wednesday, more than two months after her death March 31 ended a right-to-die battle between her husband and parents that engulfed the courts, Congress and the White House and divided the country.

She died from dehydration, Thogmartin said. He said she did not appear to have suffered a heart attack and there was no evidence that she was given harmful drugs or other substances prior to her death.

He said that after her feeding tube was removed, she would not have been able to eat or drink if she had been given food by mouth, as her parents' requested.

"Removal of her feeding tube would have resulted in her death whether she was fed or hydrated by mouth or not," Thogmartin told reporters.

He also said she was blind, because the "vision centers of her brain were dead," and that her brain was about half of its expected size when she died 13 days following the feeding tube's removal.

Michael Schiavo said his wife never would have wanted to be kept alive in what court-appointed doctors concluded was a persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery. The Schindlers, however, doubted she had any such end-of-life wishes and disputed that she was in a vegetative state.

The medical examiner's conclusions countered a videotape released by the Schindlers of Terri Schiavo in her hospice bed. The video showed Schiavo appearing to turn toward her mother's voice and smile, moaning and laughing. Her head moved up and down and she seemed to follow the progress of a brightly colored Mickey Mouse balloon.

They believed her condition could improve with therapy.

However, doctors said her reactions were automatic responses and not evidence of thought or consciousness, and Thogmartin's report went farther.

"The brain weighed 615 grams, roughly half of the expected weight of a human brain," he said. "This damage was irreversible, and no amount of therapy or treatment would have regenerated the massive loss of neurons."

Thogmartin said the autopsy report was based on 274 external and internal body images, and an exhaustive review of Terri Schiavo's medical records, police reports and social services agency records.

He said hospital records of her 1990 collapse showed she had a diminished potassium level in her blood. But he said that did not prove she had an eating disorder, because the emergency treatment she received at the time could have affected the potassium level.

Testimony in a 1992 civil trial indicated that she probably was suffering from an eating disorder that led to a severe chemical imbalance.

Over the years, the Schindlers had sought independent investigation of their daughter's condition and what caused it. Abuse complaints to state social workers were ruled unfounded and the Pinellas state attorney's office did not turn up evidence of abuse.

Calls seeking comments Wednesday from the Schindlers and Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, were not immediately returned.

Speaking before the report was issued, Felos, said the Schindlers continue to engage in a "smear campaign against Michael to deflect the real issues in the case, which were Terri's wishes and her medical condition."

During the seven-year legal battle, federal and state courts repeatedly rejected extraordinary attempts at intervention by Florida lawmakers, Gov. Jeb Bush, Congress and President Bush on behalf of her parents.

Supporters of the Schindlers harshly criticized the courts. Many religious groups, including the Roman Catholic Church, said the removal of sustenance violated fundamental religious tenets.

About 40 judges in six courts were involved in the case at one point or another. Six times, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to intervene. As Schiavo's life ebbed away following the final removal of her feeding tube, Congress rushed through a bill to allow the federal courts to take up the case, and President Bush signed it March 21, but federal courts refused to step in.

[THE_DITCH_DOCTOR]

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/18050