Posted on 05/14/2005 2:09:03 PM PDT by Future Useless Eater
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Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation Urges Wife of Disabled Jacksonville Man to Err on the Side of Life To: National Desk Contact: Pamela F. Hennessy for the Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation, 727-445-1766, phenn@zimp.org CLEARWATER, Fl., May 14 /Christian Wire Service/ –- The volunteers with the Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation, along with the family of Terri Schiavo, are urging Jacksonville, Florida resident, Eliza Thomas, to allow her 34 year old husband to live. The Foundation has learned that Scott Thomas suffered brain injury in September of 2004 and has since been incapacitated and dependent on others. His mother, Pamela Patton, has petitioned the courts for guardianship of the disabled man and was awarded a temporary guardianship which could expire as early as June 3, 2005. Mr. Thomas's wife, Eliza, is currently seeking to take his guardianship over. Ms. Patton is currently pursuing neurological testing and treatment options with a Clearwater, Florida neurologist, Dr. William Hammesfahr. Mrs. Thomas, however, has reportedly stated that her intention is to move her husband to the Community Hospice of Northeast Florida and seek the authority to direct the removal of his gastric feeding tube, causing his death by dehydration and starvation. According to Ms. Patton, her son speaks a limited vocabulary, gives affirmative and negative hand signals and has successfully answered questions of where he lives, where he attended school and his situation. She states that he is aware and oriented. The volunteers of the Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation are urging Florida's Department of Children and Families (Florida's social services agency) to investigate the circumstances surrounding Mr. Thomas's injuries and to ensure that he is not currently a victim of abuse and neglect. Terri Schiavo's family is asking Mrs. Eliza Thomas to err on the side of life. According to them, the dehydration and starvation death suffered by their daughter in March of this year was anything but a peaceful and painless death. Statement of Bob Schindler, Terri Schiavo's father: The suffering our daughter endured and her death over the course of nearly two weeks was horrific. I am pleading with Mrs. Thomas to please reconsider her decision to seek the removal of Scott's feeding tube and to allow him to receive the therapy and rehabilitation he needs to improve. I beg Mrs. Thomas to give her husband a chance. |
Well I've started a prayer group via email to pray for city and state leaders. I sent out the Florida Senators names this past week as our focus. Jesus said pray for your enemies.
Let me know if you need further clarification or if I should use smaller words for you.
I think this contains the answer you're looking for.
excerpt (Duval County Medical Society)
http://www.dcmsonline.org/jax-medicine/2001journals/May2001/choices.htm
The new Florida Statute Chapter 765 reworks the language in the old Living Will Statute, and adds a new category, "end stage condition." Thus, the current "threshold criteria" for ending artificial life-sustaining procedures are:
1. "End-Stage Condition" — defined as "a condition that is caused by injury, disease, or illness which has resulted in severe and permanent deterioration, indicated by incapacity and complete physical dependency, and for which, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, treatment of the irreversible condition would be medically ineffective."
2. "Persistent Vegetative State" defined as "a permanent and irreversible condition of unconsciousness in which there is:
* The absence of voluntary action or cognitive behavior of any kind;
* An inability to communicate or interact purposefully with the environment."
3. "Terminal Condition"—defined as "a condition caused by injury, disease, or illness for which there is no reasonable medical probability of recovery and which, without treatment, can be expected to cause death."
The statute specifically carves out the Florida Medical Consent Law, and indicates that the creation of a Living Will cannot affect the issuance or payment of benefits under any life insurance policy, nor can a healthcare facility require a patient to sign a Living Will, nor can the appropriate withdrawal of life-prolonging procedures be deemed a murder or suicide.
If a patient has not made a Living Will Declaration, but has designated in writing a "Health Care Surrogate," then the surrogate may make decisions regarding life-prolonging procedures unless the patient has specifically limited the surrogate's authority to do so. However, the surrogate must find that the patient does not have a reasonable medical probability of recovering capacity and must also find that the patient is both mentally and physically incapacitated with no reasonable medical probability of recovery. This is a broader requirement than if a Living Will were correctly drafted and executed.
Some of the problems with any definition of "Terminal" are that there is no commonly accepted clinical definition of "Terminal." Is it —Days? —Weeks? —Whenever death is inevitable? To some extent, the creation of the "End stage" category was meant to clarify "Terminal." But note the broad difference between "no reasonable medical probability of recovery" (found in the Terminal definition), versus "to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, that treatment of the irreversible condition would be medically ineffective" (as found in the End-Stage definition). The End stage definition is a much higher standard, and probably results from the lawmakers too closely tracking another state's statute when intending to broaden our own statute.
Furthermore, even Browning addressed the rights of persons who are both mentally and physically incapacitated, but not those who are mentally incapacitated but physically in good health (as can be frequently the case with Alzheimer's patients).
For instance, following the law as stated in the Browning decision, a patient could leave written directions with a surrogate that essentially state, "If you believe that my quality of life is completely meaningless, then I authorize you to terminate any life-sustaining measures that may then be in place." Upon later incapacity, under Browning, the surrogate could make a decision as to the patient's quality of life, and accordingly seek to terminate life support. However, under the terms of the Florida Statute Section 765, life support can only be terminated when the patient is terminal, in an end-stage condition, or vegetative. Having "zero quality of life" does not rise to any of those standards, and so under the statutes the surrogate would not be authorized to terminate life support. You can expect the dispute over barrier language to continue for many years. The position of many religious organizations is that, without the barrier language, euthanasia or physician assisted suicide will be the sure consequence.
It was pre-internet, as in the mid-60's. Nevertheless, the story kind of stuck in my mind over the years. (Yes, I'm officially older than dirt.)
Really? The article doesn't suggest that. The keywords don't suggest that. I wonder if the poster, Future Useless Eater, intends that. Let's ask.
Hey, Future Useless Eater, can we turn this thread into an abortion thread? Death penalty thread? Euthanasia thread? Rwanda thread? Infanticide thread? The general trend of murder in the U.S. vs. foreign countries?
Or would you prefer we stick to a discussion of these end-of-life issues?
Oh. You mean that sometime doctors make mistakes? Well, thank you for pointing out that fact. Here I assumed they were gods.
Now, how that relates to anything else, I'm not clear. Do you have a point?
Hmmmmm.
I don't want ANYONE to have to suffer by dehydration and starvation. Please DO NOT put in writing that you want to starve to death.
Do your OWN search about what it's like to be dehydrated to death. (I know a favorite thing for the left to do is to attack sources that they don't agree with, no matter WHAT the sources may be.)
For your convenience, this should get you started:
The Ithacan, an opinion piece.
By Kevin O’Neill ’05
Guest writer
April 07, 2005
“The right to die” and “dying with dignity” are catchphrases that were thrown around quite frequently regarding the removal of a feeding tube from Terri Schiavo, a woman who suffered brain damage 15 years ago. I sincerely doubt most of those people had any idea what they were saying.
How dignified do people consider starva-tion? When confronted with commercials ex-posing the terrible food shortage in many third world countries, “dying with dignity” is not a phrase that jumps to most people’s lips. Perhaps ignorance of what physically happens during starvation and dehydration shields some from considering the gravity of this case.
Medical doctor and ethicist David Stevens has described the process thus: the mouth dries out and the tongue becomes swollen and cracked. The lips become parched and cracked as a thick coating begins to cake the mouth and lips. The eyes sink back into the skull while the cheeks hollow and the lining of the nose begins to crack, potentially causing nosebleeds. The skin turns dry and scaly and hangs loose on the bones. Urine decreases, becoming highly concentrated, and eventually stops completely.
Then, the stomach lining dries out, causing vomiting and dry heaves. Brain cells dry out, too, causing convulsions. The respiratory tract dries out and thick secretions develop, a process that may plug the lungs and airways. Eventually, after the body suffers all these effects, all the major organs fail, including the lungs, heart and brain.
This is an extremely warped idea of “dignity.” It is illegal in the state of Florida, where Terri lived, to put a dog down this way, but for an innocent woman this death sentence will suffice. George Greer, the judge hearing this case has displayed shocking determination to see Terri die. On February 25, he stated that he would only hear motions relating to the “death process” and has denied, without hearing arguments or evidence, the Schindlers’ motion to divorce Terri from Michael and denied, without hearing arguments or evidence, the Schindlers’ motion to remove Michael as guardian.
He also heard, but did not rule on, arguments that Terri should be fed by mouth once the feeding tube was removed and many more very relevant points relating to this case.
Judge Greer skirted and ignored the law more times during this whole fiasco than are permissible to relate in polite company.
please look at this website on hospice philosophy.
http://www.hospicelongview.org/the_hospice_philosophy.htm
In case you miss it notice that the hospice philosophy states that a ''a hospice will neither hasten nor prevent death''
This thread is about euthanasia. Don't bother replying to me since you are obviously just a troll.
Hey, Future Useless Eater, can we turn this thread into an abortion thread? Death penalty thread? Euthanasia thread?
I guess it depends on their definition of speeding up the dieing process, huh? (rolling eyes)
Did that troll ever answer your question?
I don't think I asked him a question--however, I do sense that because it happened pre-internet, it's being dismissed out of hand.
http://realchoice.blogspot.com/2005/05/wife-wants-to-schiavo-brain-injured.html
This said that Scott fell BACKWARDS. Very strange that he would fall backwards. Seems to me that he was hit on his head from the back.
I thought you asked him if he thought abortion was murder? Maybe it was someone else.
I think it was someone else. :)
The troll still hasn't answered the question though.
Excerpt
She says he remains responsive, tracking family members as they move around his room, smiling, crying, communicating with hand signals and eyebrows and forming words with his mouth. And the story he tells about his injury is very different than the one told by his wife.
Eliza Smith ... says Scott fell backwards ... and struck his head in the kitchen. .... Scott's mother reports her son communicating to her that his injury ... was intentionally inflicted by his wife. "The doctors say that his injuries are not consistent with such a fall and believe the severe head trauma was caused by a blow to the head," Patton told Empire Journal.
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