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.

[Diva Betsy Ross]

So these experts are working their butts off to save Terri and no one knows them. Not the Media, not the family, not a moderator for a group of people dedicated to to doing work for Terri, not the family's laywer. They have no links or ability to prove they are really this group of outstanding experts in their fields who call themselves.... PAC for Terri

They blow up or run away when Inquiring minds would like proof of this group of experts, they waffle in their statements and support of fellow posters adn of Terri herself. They encourage others to abandon this cause if we don't agree with them and theri expert evidence that the parent's are stupid, the Schindler's docters are wack jobs ,and Terri had a severe eating disorder.

Well it makes for interesting reading anyway.

[Diva Betsy Ross]

Now is this you first last message to me.. or is this to be an ongoing commentary on how I am going to hear that this is your last message to me?

[Tammy8]

You have the picture, as I see it. I do wish Harv and other professionals who think they can help would contact the Schindler family and offer their help.
I don't have much time to post here, but I hope I have made some think about things a little.

[sweetliberty]

Murder is a crime, and even if the state of FloriDUH doesn't deem it so, it is still a sin. Starving somebody to death is MURDER! It really is that simple.

[supercat]

Murder is a crime, and even if the state of FloriDUH doesn't deem it so, it is still a sin. Starving somebody to death is MURDER! It really is that simple.

Indeed, people need to realize that there's a difference between declining to force-feed someone who is dying and who will die in short order even if fed, and denying food and water to someone who would not otherwise die (at least not in the near future).

Also, perhaps someone can correct me if I'm wrong on this, but my understanding is that the body can only survive so long entirely on "auto-pilot" and that certain higher-level brain functions are necessary to keep things properly in balance. While it would be theoretically possible for someone to have the higher-level functions necessary to maintain balance and yet not have enough brain functionality to ever regain full conciousness, the brain is sufficiently adaptable that it would be more likely that either the damage would not be so severe as to prevent ever regaining conciousness, or else it would have been so severe as to result in death (or the need for more significant life-prolonging measures) within a matter of months. That Terri has survived for years on nothing but a feeding tube would suggest that she was less-badly damaged than Michael et al. have let on.

[lonevoice]

Yes, Harv, Ed, and Lyn have all migrated over here to FR. One might say they "play VERY dirty, using passive-aggressive “slant” approaches". Glad you stopped by to introduce yourself. I'd like a link to visit your message board if it's open. If you'd rather not post it here, a private reply would be very appreciated.

[FatherOfLiberty]

I have lurked on these Terri threads for a long time, taking in all of the information from every side. After reading just a few of your posts, I must tell you that you, of all posters, really p!ss me off! Your callous disregard for life is staggering and downright evil.

For all of your big talk, you refuse to acknowledge that Terri is STILL ALIVE! Even moreso, her life is not maintained by medical technology typically considered "extraordinary measures". A simple tube stuck into the stomach for receiving food and water. The only difference between your sustenance and Terri's is that you can put your own food and water in your tube (your esophagus) via your mouth, and Terri's has to go in through her "fake" esophagus. Of course, we don't even know if this feeding tube is even necessary for her!

I am an occupational therapist by profession, with 18 years of experience. In the early years of my career, I specialized in rehabilitation of teens and adults with TBI (traumatic brain injury). I have seen many, many challenging patients who required far more medical intervention than Terri to maintain their lives. I have also witnessed some miraculous recoveries as well, even YEARS after the initial TBI incident. I could tell you about other patients like the girl in the article that seemed to animate you so - I have witnessed this myself.

Again, the key to this matter is that Terri is STILL ALIVE. If you want to make some god-judgment about the relative "quality" of her life as to whether she should live or die, then you have already been rightly identified as a Nazi by another poster. May God have mercy on your soul. Good day.

[Lion in Winter]

Why are you here? I thought you found out that NOBODY cares what you post...and if your name in on the post...ALMOST ALL OF US TERRI SUPPORTERS, DONT EVEN READ IT.

Just go over and play at the ACLU site with folks who agree with you and leave us conservatve people to post to FR.

The ACLU is for killing Terri and so are YOU!

REAL CONSERVATIVES are against the ACLU and everything they support!!

The DU awaits your posts.

[Lion in Winter]

Remember.... daylate is trying to provoke a fight so we will complain about him again... then JR will pull our threads again. He did this all last week.

Regards, Lion

[Future Useless Eater]

Those of you that are pointing out the various 'likely trolls'
here trying to destroy the 'Terri threads'... I thank you!

I have come to the same conclusions... that these people
were here to destroy the Terri talking points.

I see one of them has now had their account closed. Another
was apparently banned from Terri threads but now visits
'similar' threads and turns them into Terri threads
apparently to argue.

others have had lots of posts yanked. Its about time.

[Future Useless Eater]

>>daylate is trying to provoke a fight so we will complain about him again... then JR will pull our threads again. He did this all last week.

Thats a pretty underhanded dirty trick of the anti-Terri crowd!
Thanks for the warning. Can't we appeal to JR, and show him
what they are doing?

[sweetliberty]

"daylate is trying to provoke a fight so we will complain about him again... then JR will pull our threads again. He did this all last week."

I have seen his posts. I have chosen to ignore him. He is obviously trolling. Did you ping Jim or the moderator to your post #351?

[Future Useless Eater]

>>Did you ping Jim or the moderator to your post #351?

No I didn't... I'd rather shut this thread off so it is preserved than have it trashed by them,

...or risk having it deleted due to them.

We can start new threads to make them all less
attack-prone.

[sweetliberty]

Well, I was just thinking in terms of making them aware of where the problems were coming from so that if it keeps happening, the ones who are the cause will be the ones getting their posts pulled, and hopefully not everybody will have to pay for it.

[sweetliberty]

I'm pretty done with this thread anyway because of the trolls.

[JustPiper]

We get trolls on every hot issue thread it seems. I've had some get me in hot water -g-

[JustPiper]

She IS Alive! I caught this Chris moment.

[PeyersPatches]

Dead brain tissue cannot be repaired or regrown. Is is just that- DEAD TISSUE.

---

Not exactly true. The brain has shown itself to bypass bad synapse. The brain is truly amazing and we are just now beginning to learn more about it. Tremendous leaps will be advanced in neuroscience, already are. The next decade will be amazing. Christopher Reeve is a great example as he can now breath on his own for 2 hrs at a time - something previously thought impossible.

[daylate-dollarshort]

"The brain has shown itself to bypass bad synapse. The brain is truly amazing and we are just now beginning to learn more about it."

I agree with these statements, however what we are talking about in the Terri Schiavo case is the wholesale destruction of the cerebral cortex, not a synapes failure. If you think about the synapsis of the brain as the wiring- elecrtical connections- one can repair the wiring from the power pole to the house, but if the house has burned down the lights will still not go on.

In Terri's case the house has burned down and what is left is nothing but ashes. The dead tissue has atrophied and the volume once occupied by her cerebral cortex has been replaced by spinal fluid. There is no mechanism which will grow or otherwise generate new brain tissue.

Christopher Reeves is not an example applicable to the Terri Schiavo situation. He suffered a spinal cord injury, not a brain injury. I submit that rather than a synapse regeneration to his diaphragm, he has retrained himself to breathe using other muscle groups. This would explain the two hour limitation on his ability to breathe unassisted. His synapses dont get tired- his muscles do. I admire his determination, however I cannot agree that he is an example of a regeneration od nerve tissue.

[syriacus]

Thanks, FL_engineer.
I'm glad you gave the warning.
I might easily have thought some "anti-Terri" comments were serious questions.

I'm spending most of my time this week getting ready for my daughter's wedding and only check into the Terri threads once in a while. I usually can take the time to read Terri posts more thoroughly, to try to understand a poster's point of view.