Correct. I would also add that the appellate court considered what those doctors failed to say.
For example, Dr. Webber, the main source used by the Second District Court to remand the case in 2001, did not testify in the brand-new evidentiary hearing in 2002. Why?
Did Dr. Webber change his mind about the ability of his treatment to improve Terri's condition?
Since Dr. Webber was a neurologist, a similar replacement was expected.
Instead of two neurologists, the Schindlers presented a radiologist and neurologist.
Unfortunately, the Schindlers' neurologist is on probabion by the State of Florida; he was fined and ordered to pay court costs totalling over $54,000. He was also ordered to perform community service.
Evidently, a radiologist and a neurologist on probation were not very credible to the appellate court.
Schiavo presented 2 neurologists, and the trial court chose one neurologist.
Why did the Schindlers choose to present such a controversial neurologist? Is the neurologist on probation the only neurologist they could find to support their viewpoint?
Did the Schindlers' drop the ball by not providing the court with credible neurologists?
A total of nine neurologists have also stated that Terri Schiavo is not in PVS. "It is obvious to me that Ms. Schiavo is a viable human being who is at least semi-responsive to her environment," physician Richard Neubauer stated in a May 2001 affidavit. Dr. Neubauer is a recognized expert in hyperbaric oxygen therapy, a type of treatment he believes might improve Terri's condition. "She is not brain dead nor is she in a persistent vegetative state."
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Though Michael Schiavo claims today that his wife said she would not want to live cognitively disabled, receiving food through a tube, he apparently forgot that statement when, on Nov. 5, 1992, he sat in the witness box in Courtroom B of the Pinellas County Courthouse in Clearwater, Fla.
...Mr. Schiavo's then-attorney Glenn Woodworth let the jury know that his client had enrolled in nursing school to learn to care for his wife, and that he wanted to care for her at home. "If you had the resources available to you," Mr. Woodworth asked, alluding in part to any malpractice award the jury might grant, "if you had the equipment and the people, would you do that?"
"Yes, I would—in a heartbeat," Mr. Schiavo replied. "She's my life and I wouldn't trade her for the world."