"The clincher on this is that my mother even though she had power of attorney could not override the treatment hospice was delivering because my stepfather had a living will and had signed himself into hospice."
We have had scandals about nursing home abuse here in Oklahoma, and steps have been attempted to remedy it. Sounds like Florida has made legal what would be considered abuse elsewhere. Let me speculate....the hospice wanted him to die quickly so it would save them expense?
My mother died in an inpatient hospice facility. I still have nightmares about that place, even though I know that there was nothing that anyone could have done for my mother. She had cancer that had spread throughout her body and was in constant, horrific pain from the cancer in her bones and spine. They offered her anything she wanted to eat or drink, but she gradually came to refuse it because her body couldn't accept it. In her situation, it would have been cruel to prolong her suffering by trying to insert a feeding tube. Terri Schiavo's situation is completely different, and she shouldn't even be in a hospice facility.