The $6.8 million dollars could very well be the total amount awarded...as one of the doctors settled out of court for an "undisclosed amount of money".
I thought the 6.8 million was the total award, which they decreased to 1.2 million because the jury felt that Terri was 70% responsible for her own condition.
There had to be a lot more. There were settlements with other parties and he did receive seperate damages for pain and suffering. They did appeal the jury reduction. What was the result of that appeal?
This is from
Terri's site:
Question 2: How Did the Money Get Into Terri’s Medical Fund?
November 1992: A medical malpractice trial is petitioned by Terri's husband, Michael Schiavo. He asks the jury for 20 million dollars to pay for his wife’s (Terri) future medical and neurological requirements. This request was based on estimates of her life expectancy, which Michael Schiavo and his attorneys were estimating at 50 years.
(MY COMMENTS: $20M divided by 50 yrs = $400,000 per year. The jury decided because of Terri's supposed bulemia, her life expectancy would only have been 17 more years. Therefore, $400,000 x 17 yrs = $6.8M. This matches the figure from the lawyers website. If you then subtract 70% for Terri's supposed "attributable negligence", you come up with an actual judgement of $2.04M from this lawsuit.)
However, this is from the same page on Terri's website:
Question 1: How Much Was Originally Awarded To Terri’s Medical Fund?
Medical Malpractice Trial Jury Award
November 10, 1992 : Jury Document, Item 5. What is the amount of Theresa Schiavo's future damages for medical expenses and lost earning ability to be sustained in future years?
A.) Total damages over future years: $9,400,000.00
B.) The number of years over which those future damages are intended to provide compensation: 17 years
C.) What is the present value of those future damages: $4,300,000.00
Note: The jury award amount was reduced to $1,290,000.00 to reflect Terri’s attributable negligence. Separate from these monies was Michael Schiavo’s personal award of $600,000.00.
(My comments: $9.4M x 30% = $1.29M actually awarded.)
More from this page on Terri's site:
Prior to this trial and in a completely independent medical malpractice lawsuit, Terri was awarded $250,000.00 in an out-of-court settlement. Also, prior to the two medical malpractice lawsuits, an estimated $50,000.00 was contributed to Terri’s medical fund via community fundraisers.
In Summary, Terri has received an aggregate sum of $1,590,000.00. Nonetheless, in June of 1993, the asset balance in Terri’s account was reduced to $761, 507.50, as reported by Michael Schiavo. Schiavo's attorney, however, has sealed the accounting, which would disclose how Terri's account was depleted by approximately $828,492.50, (52%) in only 1 year and 6 months.
My comments: Although exact figures seem to vary, I think the lawyer reporting a $6.8M judgement isn't exactly truthful. I think actual money to Terri from judgements is $1.54M.