Professor Appointed to Probe Schiavo Case

Guardian Unlimited ^ | Nov 1, 2003 | Vickie Chachere

[Future Useless Eater]

Professor Appointed to Probe Schiavo Case

Saturday November 1, 2003 1:01 AM

By VICKIE CHACHERE
Associated Press Writer

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - A judge appointed a University of South Florida professor on Friday to independently investigate the case of a severely brain-damaged woman at the center of a right-to-die battle.

Jay Wolfson, an expert on health care financing, will report to Gov. Jeb Bush and recommend whether the stay the governor enacted to keep Terri Schiavo alive should be allowed to remain.

Schiavo suffered severe brain damage when her heart stopped due to a chemical imbalance and has been in a persistent vegetative state for more than a decade. Doctors have said there is no hope for her recovery.

Her husband, Michael Schiavo, has fought to have her feeding tube removed, saying his wife did not want to be kept alive artificially.

Terri Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, dispute that claim and have fought to keep their daughter alive, saying they believe she could be rehabilitated.

Terri Schiavo's feeding tube was removed for six days in October before the Florida Legislature and Gov. Jeb Bush enacted a special law to have it reinserted. The law also required a guardian to be appointed.

George Felos, the attorney for Michael Schiavo, and the American Civil Liberties Union filed briefs this week challenging the constitutionality of the governor's action. The state is expected to respond on Monday.

The judge said that if the law is found to be unconstitutional, Wolfson is to cease his work.

The Schindlers had objected to Wolfson's appointment, claiming comments he made to a television station indicated he was biased against the newly enacted law. The judge said he found no evidence of bias.

Wolfson did not return calls seeking comment.

The judge ordered Wolfson to report to the governor in 30 days, but said the deadline could be extended if needed.

[Republic]

So bummed. Judge Greer is so cold and relentless is just breaks my heart.

[Republic]

Would it be a good idea to start flooding Jay Wolfson with what we know and indicating to him the professional people assciated with the Schindler case that are receiving the same email(?)...seeing their addresses in the CC section of emails to him, might increase his interest to actually read his emails from unknown people.

We could, maybe, at least start pricking the conscience of whomever we email.

And why not send Judge Greer and circuit Judge Demers the same info (?)....just in case.

If enough emails are sent...with addresses on them to Jeb Bush, Senator King,the judges, the professional associations involved with this case-the American Center for law and justice and the folks below, Attorney General Charlie Crist, and Executive Director of INvestigations, Jamie McLaughlin, etc.--who knows---knowledge can be a good thing! People suffer from the lack of it...

All of the addresses are found on various threads, mostly on the daily thread running about terri, but on other threads as well.

[diotima]

Do you know when the Schindlers are scheduled to appear on LKL?

I have almost turned my mother (a nurse) around 180 on this. Since she listens to NPR and the mainstream media she thought that Terri was PVS, but since I have spent so long reading testimony to her and supplying the facts, she seems to have turned around.

I really want her to watch the interview on LKL with the parents.

[Republic]

As I understand it-it is this coming Thurs. I will let ya know if I find out this had changed. Meanwhile-it would be so great if everyone wrote to Larry thanking him for the balance and suggesting brief background info with which he can challange the Schindler's--it will HELP them to get their deeply moving and intense struggle out to the world!

The new guardian is alarming---see post below found on Terri's fight (daily thread/updates):

larry.king.live3@turner.com

THE POST:

Jay Wolfson, Dr.P.H., J.D
Environmental and Occupational Health
Degrees:
B.A., History,University of Illinois, Chicago 1973
M.A., History, New York University, 1974
M.P.H., Community Health Administration,
Indiana University, Bloomington 1975
Dr. P.H., Health Services Organizations,
University of Texas, Houston 1981
J.D., Law, Stetson University College of Law 1993

Wolfson the Guardian Ad Litium (sp?) is not even an M.D. a Medical Doctor M.P.H is Masters Degree in Public Health, the "administration" of health His P.h.D is again aobut healthcare Organizations, and then he is a Lawyer. This is the guy who is going to determin if Terri can be re-habilitated? This is a guy who makes his living by being published. in acedemia it is publish or perish.

If we all get on this we should be able to come up with some pre-disposition on his part. Just Google his name. I will work up this link - http://hsc.usf.edu/publichealth/eoh/jwolfson/ My father is an M.P.H [side joke. I was a little kid when my dad got his M.P.H. from Berkley, and everytime we would see a speed limit sigh=n 35MPH we would shout out Masters of Public Health!!] My dad recently ws awarded the equivenent of the "Lifetime Achievment Award" from the American Public Health Association, I'm sure you have all heard of it.

My dad was President of the APHA etc. So you can imagine my surproise when I looked at Wolfson's credentials and I'm sitting here realizing that his credentials on the face of it are not at all suited to the Gaurdian Ad Litim (again sp) responsibilites. I don't know about you but I just assumed he was an M.D.

I am with others who strongly feel that the money is the key. It was what brought down Nixon. Ben Bradley said "follow the money" and that is what I think we should be doing. I doubt if Wolfson has a money connection, but those other doctors and the Judges.

Oh another thing, why did the judge pick Wolfson? My dad was again a Nationally recognized consultant after he retired, actually he did a LOT of work in Florida, and he got his jobs by referral. Judges don't spend a lot of time to research and find the "best" candidates as the "exerts". They makse a few phone calls and it is who you know. Somehow there is a connection between the Judge who selected Wolfson and the Judge.

Sorry to brag so much about my dad but when I saw the M.P.H. I thought my personal background would have value. I'm going to work on Jay and I hope others follow. If we can find bias we need to dig theat up and sent it to Terri's lawyer. This could be used in an appeal. The guy isn't even an M.D. for crying out loud.

Just go to Google and typ in his name. Again I am already covering http://hsc.usf.edu/publichealth/eoh/jwolfson/

550 posted on 11/01/2003 12:51 AM CST by Lone Voice in the hinterlands
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 543 | View Replies | Report Abuse ]

This was posted on the Terrri's fight-(daily thread/update) on the forum boards at FreeRepublic.com

[diotima]

Thanks, I did see that information about the GAL. I wonder if the Schindlers will be able to get rid of this guy the way Schiavo and Felos got rid of the original GAL once it was clear he wasn't goosestepping in the culture of death march.

I hope the Schindlers on LKL helps the public mobilize in their favor.

[PleaseNoMore]

The brain stimulator implant was a success, said her husband, Mike. Mrs. Schiavo is slowly emerging from the coma at the Mediplex Medical Center, a neurological care center in Bradenton, he said. She will undergo at least a year of speech, occupational and physical therapy.

OMG. This statement is in blatant contradiction with his televised statement on LKL concerning this treatment. The family needs to bring this up to LK's attention next week when they are on. They need to have the transcript from Schiavo's interview then refute his statement using this article. I am not surprised that he is lying but just can't fathom how he thought that there wouldn't be people out here that are interested in the truth.

[demkicker]

Counting on you guys to get this info to Jay Wolfson!

[TigersEye]

I have been looking for the source of GAL Pearse's full report. Can you point me to that please?

[Republic]

Me to girl, me too!

[TigersEye]

Schiavo suffered severe brain damage when her heart stopped due to a chemical imbalance and has been in a persistent vegetative state for more than a decade. Doctors have said there is no hope for her recovery.

According to another healthcare professional, specializing in cognitive speech pathology, she is not in a PVS state and is a good candidate for improvement with rehab.

Pathologist's statement in Terri Schiavo case

5. Based on my experience and my observations, Mrs. Schiavo is clearly aware of her environment and interacts with it, albeit inconsistently. She is able to comprehend spoken language, and can, at least inconsistently, follow simple one-step commands. This is documented both in the MediPlex records and in the following behaviors noted in the following video segments:

10. It is not my opinion that Mrs. Schiavo is in a coma or in a persistent vegetative state. In my opinion, she exhibits purposeful though inconsistent reactions to her environment, particularly her family. Her eye movements, easily observed on the videotape, are particularly suggestive that she recognized family members and responded. She also appeared to have sufficient sustained attention to track a balloon. It is not my opinion that these behaviors are merely reflexive. The entire range of behaviors listed above, and each and every one of them, are inconsistent with a diagnosis of persistent vegetative state.

14. It is my judgement based on my training and clinical experience working with patients similar to Terri that she would, within a reasonable degree of clinical probability, be able to improve her ability to interact with her environment, communicate with others, and control her environment if she were given appropriate therapy and training as outlined above. These recommendations, in my opinion, would greatly improve Terri's quality of life.

This was taken from an affadavit given by Sara Green Mele, MS, CCC-SLP. The first three paragraphs give an overview of her experience and qualifications.

[freekitty]

Yes, Michael has moved on with his life and has prevented Terri from moving on with her life.

It appears the courts have denied Terri any say at all with complete and unbelievable bias given their unwavering support of the very person, her husband, who has an obvious motive or agenda to see her dead.

At the very least, Michael has kept Terri in slavery like conditions; I believe that is against the law.

[Future Useless Eater]

What kind of person are you stealing other peoples work!

saveterri1 - I am sorry that the portion of post#1 in this thread shown in BLUE appears like it MY original work, and I did not give you credit.

THANK YOU for telling me it was YOURS!!! I asked days ago who had originally posted that info, with no response. I explained all that HERE Thursday:

...nor confirm who exactly had originally posted it. (my thanks to whomever that was... If anyone knows please link to that first posting)

My vague memory tried to tell me it was yours, But then FreeRepublic was reporting otherwise... I'll show you what I mean... If you go to post 31 on this thread and click on your name, you will be taken to your 'profile' page, aka your 'about page' which says you joined F.R. five days ago, October 27th.

Then if you click on "In Forum" you will see a list of EVERY post you have ever made, and the PEARSE INFO IS GONE. I can only guess now that you posted it onto a thread that got yanked for some reason.

Your collection of info about Pearse was FANTASTIC, and I remember you asking someone to please post it on a separate thread. That info would have been lost, it seems, if I hadn't accidently stumbled on it the other day, and luckily saved most of it to my harddrive.

WELCOME to F.R!, and again, I apologise deeply for not giving you full credit for your excellent Pearse collection.
(also note in post 29, when Robert A. Cook, PE asked if he could use 'my summary' he was asking about post #6 which WAS my summary, not post #1) - FLE

[saveterri1]

FL-engineer

Re: Using my Pearse GAL post:

We are cool, you are a great person, no problems here. You are just making very extreme statements in you investigation “wish list” that have no factual basis, and I/we cannot be associated with this type of non-factual extremism.

We have investigated most of this wish list so well understand this situations here.

My original Richard Pearse GAL Post was here:

Terri Schindler-Schiavo: Basic Terri - a synopsis of info

I just learned it was pulled for some reason. One PM I received said severe flaming got started. Too bad it was a very good thread.

----

Last week I sent you this email from that thread, but you never responded back:

Thank You Very Much For Your Transcript Posts on Terri Schiavo

To FL_engineer | 10/28/2003 4:48 AM EST sent

Just wanted to thank you very much for your transcript posts regarding Terri Schiavo. I really appreciate it.

I'm a licensed private investigator (28 years of experience) with a Miami based P.A.C. group of PI's, attorneys, physicians, and lobbyists. Like many others here we are just trying to stop this atrocity towards Terri, and have significant problems with matters related to Michael Schiavo's and George Felos conduct and actions.

Have a great week,

Harv

---

There are many Michael-Felos and Co. gremlins on here, slamming people and running spin control. So that is the reason I got upset when you posted my work. I am fairly new on this Board and wasn’t sure what you were doing.

Anyway just a glitch and a communication problem. No big deal!

Have a great weekend!..Harv

[Aliska]

Thanks for posting the picture. Does MS always wear yellow?

Terri sure looks responsive in this picture. What might regular therapy have accomplished if she had been allowed to have it?

[saveterri1]

Re Pearse Report:

In his report, Pearse questions Michael Schiavo's credibility.

>>>Schiavo aggressively pursued treatment for his wife for years after her accident, Pearse said.<<<

THIS IS IMPORTANT. PEARSE SAID MICHAEL REALLY DID BUST HIS HUMP TO DO EVERYTHING FOR TERRI AFTER HER SEVERE BULIMIA NERVOSA INDUCED HEART ATTACK/CARDIAC ARREST AND SEVERE BRAIN DAMAGE.

Pearce however said, about the time a jury awarded the couple $1-million in a malpractice suit Schiavo decided not to pursue treatment, he said. If his wife dies, Schiavo stands to inherit as much as $700,000 and would be free to marry his fiance of four years

@@@@@

Harv

[saveterri1]

I/we have see the malpractice trial records. Terri had very severe and prolonged Bulimia Nervosa Disease and it caused her collapse, including her neck and rib injuries when her body slammed on the floor head first. It is well documented by many medical experts in the trial record. This is FACT!

I don't know why the Schindlers are saying Terri was perfectly healthy at the time of the accident. They were at the malpractice trial and Michael lived with the Schindler’s after Terri's collapse because Terri's medical bills had him totally broke. It has been well reported, years back, that both Michael and Terri’s mother had problems/concerns about Terri’s eating disorder. Now everybody says different in the heat of the battle!

Why do the Schindler's think the Jury nailed Terri's OB-GYN for $6 million. (Terri's GP settled out of court) She had Bulimia Nervosa Disease so bad a "blind hog" should have picked it up. The Judge reduced the settlement to $2 million because medical experts indicated because of Terri's severe Bulimia Nervosa Disease progression and damage, Terri only had a life expectancy of 45 years! That is serious disease.

The Schindler’s “star medical expert” that they use in press conferences and on TV is Dr. Hammesfahr.
The only doctor for the Schindler’s that is stating the “rigid neck and strangulation theory” is Dr. Hammersfahr. Dr. William Hammesfahr’s comments regarding what happened to Terri that night and that he can help her get better are frankly highly suspect and lack total credibility. This fact has also been well reflected in the court records.

Secondly, it has well been checked out by knowledgeable source that Dr. Hammesfahr’s noble nomination is phony. This has also been discussed by experts on this subject on TV the last month.

Dr. Hammesfahr’s is currently on probation by the Florida Medical Board, for false advertising and bilking his patient’s making false claims as to his “medical miracles” he can perform for them. The Medical Board nail this quack in February 2003.

Everybody know the Schindler’s are using him for a “mouth piece and a deception ringer” and that is why nobody will help the Schindlers! This is why Attorney General Charlie Crist, and State Attorney Bernie McCabe, (one of our people has already talked with a member of his office on this subject) will not touch this case or help the Schindlers, and why the Court’s always rule against the Schindler’s.

One of our PAC physicians has already "heard" the famed pathologist Dr. Michael Baden, “blew a casket” when he learned that the Schindler’s did not properly disclosed to Greta Van Susteren and him Terri’s horrible Bulimia Nervosa disease progression, causing Baden to make all these stupid statements on TV about Terri’s case.

Low potassium, brittle bone syndrome, heart attacks/cardiac arrest and brain damage, along with multiple system/organ damage ARE classic severe Bulimia disease symptomatology in late stage. It’s basic pathology 101 and Baden is a super pro. He never would have said all his comments had he known the facts.

Yes our PAC physician’s have reviewed the x-ray and report on Terri done a year+ after her collapse. Many of her bone problems are due to her severe Bulimia Nervosa Disease.
HOWEVER - Yes, it does appear that Michael beat Terri and Dr. Baden, and the initial reviewing radiologist, have valid comments here i.e. the radiologist saying “it looked like someone worked her (Terri) over pretty good”.

Also Michael is a big guy with an explosive temper. Terri was 5’3” and “becoming all bones” i.e. a massive loss of muscle tissue common with her disease. With Terri’s Brittle Bone Syndrome, that was resultant from her Bulimia Nervosa Disease, Michael would not have to hit Terri very hard to do some serious skeletal damage, per one of our PAC doctors.

UNDERSTAND I/WE ARE SUPER BEHIND FIGHTING THIS BATTLE TO SAVE TERRI’S LIFE, HAVE CRIMINAL CHARGES BROUGHT AGAINST MICHAEL SCHIAVO AND GEORGE FELOS, AND RETURN TERRI TO HER “BLOOD” PARENTS TO LIVE OUT THE REST OF HER NATURAL LIFE.

HOWEVER ALL THIS SCHINDLER’S BS AND QUACK DOCTORS PLAY RIGHT INTO MICHAEL-FELOS-ACLU & CO HANDS AND TERRI IS DEAD IF THEY DON’T STOP IT IMMEDIATELY.

If the Schindler’s would get honest, and ASAP, plenty of good doctors and witnesses will come to their aid.

Gee, Florida only has one of the best crime labs in the Country that could become involved to him them. You have an FBI District Field office right in Tampa Bay for gosh sakes.

As you may note, there are a lot of frustrated people out their over this situation right now, and I/we are one of them.

Harv

[saveterri1]

FL_engineer

Dr. William M. Hammesfahr, M.D-Busted by Florida Medical Board

---

Excerpt of pertinent sections – Complete transcript on File.

Department of Health
Florida Board of Medicine Meeting
Disciplinary Heaing

February 7-8, 2003

William M. Hammesfahr, M.D. – Clearwater, Florida

The Respondent was not present for the hearing.

(PAC Comment - Great, the good doctor didn’t even show up for his trial, sent some chump!-DG)

The Administrative Complaints alleged violation of Florida Statute:

(1) Failure to practice medicine with that level of care, skill, and treatment
which is recognized by a reasonably prudent similar physician as being acceptable under
similar conditions and circumstances

(2) False, deceptive, or misleading advertising. and

(3) Exercising influence on the patient or client in such a manner as to exploit the patient
or client for financial gain of the licensee or of a third party, which shall include, but not
be limited to, the promoting or selling of services, goods, appliances, or drugs.


Penalty Imposed:

Six months probation,
Quarterly reports,
Indirect Supervision,
Monthly review,
50% chart review,
100 hours of community service, ethics course.

The Department filed a Motion, and it was approved to Assess Fine and Costs of $54,084.40.

Prepared by Melinda Gray & Crystal Griffin
Florida Department of Health

[editor-surveyor]

Everyone needs to look at this post long and carefully!

There can be no doubt from this that what is taking place here is the most prolonged case of First Degree Murder that has ever been carried out.

[Theodore R.]

Why does that "conservative" Baptist Church in Pinellas Co. not excommunicate George W. Greer? That would be like a "Baptist exorcism."

[Theodore R.]

It surprises me that Felos and Schiavo have ever even heard of Free Republic. But there were "pro-death" defenders like "Hildy" (Is that a nickname of "Hillary"?) and others here for several weeks.