Suing for the Right to Live

The Weekly Standard ^ | 03/11/2004 | Wesley J. Smith

[sweetliberty]

Death of convenience ping!

[tutstar]

thanks for the ping

[neverdem]

And yet, Mr. Burke will still die.

Not to belabor the obvious, we'll all meet that fate. But doctors assuming authority for a system of socialized medicine in the demise of patients strikes me as creepy, however miserable the prognosis.

[sarasmom]

There is a difference between providing futile medical procedures to prolong death, and in providing comfort care measures at end of life.
Refusing to provide food and water, even via a tube, is not ceasing futile medical intervention at end of life.
It is starvation, and in the case of a medical patient,it is murder.
The laws are quietly being changed to allow for medically induced murder by starvation.
We will all die of something.
Decisions often have to be made as to when extreme forms of medical intervention is actually prolonging life, and when it is just prolonging death.
It is, and should allways be IMHO, a hard decision for everyone involved to make.Thats just how life is.
Providing basic food/water sustenance to even an obviously terminally ill patient should not even be open to questions.
Many severely disabled, but not otherwise terminally ill people require extraordinary medical intervention to live.Christopher Reaves, for example,needs a ventilator to live.Cut the power off on his ventilator, and he will die in minutes.
Terri Schiavo is not terminally ill.She is not on a ventillator.She only comes close to death when her husband and the Florida courts are allowed to intentionally starve her.
Put aside the cost and ability to pay for a moment, because both Christopher Reaves and Terri Schiavo have, or in Terri's case had, the funds to privately pay for the required medical treatment that sustains their non-terminally ill, but severely disabled lives for many years.
Mr.Reaves can still speak, and would loudly protest anyone turning off his resperator, for the few minutes he would live.
Terri Schiavo cant speak anymore, but twice she has desperately clung to life for days when her feeding tube was removed.
Both of these severely disabled people are not "terminally ill" by which I mean they are not actively in the final end stages of dying from either disease, trauma or physical organ shut down.
I submit that Terri Schiavo is in many respects a more viable candidate to receive long term basic comfort level medical care, than is Mr.Reaves.
We are not yet a socialist country, the USA, and we do not yet sanction euthanasia.

[floriduh voter]

FYI: March 13, 2004 Vigiling for Terri at the Image of Mary Landmark

We Vigiled today nearby the Image of Mary in Clearwater. At least ten to 15 of us showed up today and we were able to get Bay News 9 to show up. So far today Saturday, they haven't shown what they filmed with their camera on Bay News 9 but they filmed individuals and our signs with some scenes of the vigilers including the Schindlers. Maybe they spiked it or are holding it for tomorrow. The producers get the last word. I always say at least they showed up. The media needs to know that we're still helping Terri even if they don't broadcast it.

The Church was uneasy about any signage and we did have to move our portable tent off of their property. We picked up the large square tent southward and I even pulled some weeds at the new location. One of Terri's supporters who came all the way from Chicago furnished pizzas.

A senior couple asked me what was going on. They were from out of town and big surprise, they thought Terri was in a COMA. I explained the situation to them and asked them to pass it on back home. They wished us good luck.

They are doing heavy construction at U.S. 19 and Drew St. We took the BOLD, CONTROVERSIAL signs out to the highway. I got caught up with friends I met back in October, 2003. Terri's parents were also there for awhile.

The Church that owns the building is saying prayers every day for Terri when they hold services. Since the image of Mary was vandalized, the building owners put plain glass where Mary's head and veil used to be. Who knows why but they put a computer type monitor on an alter facing out. It looks like Mary has a monitor for a head. It looks like attendance may be down because of the vandalism. There was an early crowd there but by afternoon, the chairs were empty. I went over to that area right before I left and said a prayer for the world to cover all bases.

[SendShaqtoIraq]

"TPN solutions cost about $350/per bag"

This is NOT tube feeding. This is specialized INTRAVENOUS nutrition. This is NOT what Terri Schiavo is receiving.

Nor is it what MOST folks in nursing homes are receiving as their nutrition.

[TaxRelief]

Daily tube feeding costs vary from $33.70 to $87.50, including medical care related to the tube. (Surprisingly, costs outside the US are as low as $12.00 per day) The high end cost is for those patients with frequent medical complications that require expensive emergency intervention, such as for those who have very short intestines. Costs are also higher for those with special dietary needs.

Tubal feeding is cheaper than hand feeding in the nursing home setting, according to the only major controlled study that has been conducted in the US.

Total costs for nursing home care can approach $5000 a day. But something about the whole expensive nursing home care thing makes no sense to me. (Collusion?)

[TaxRelief]

I've been through it with both my Grandmother and my mother. My grandmother lived in my home, in my care until 3 hours before she passed away AT THE SAME TIME that we had very young children and babies. We never starved her. Never dehydrated her. We just took loving care of her until G-d called her home. (Yes, it was hard.)

[Carry_Okie]

This is NOT tube feeding. This is specialized INTRAVENOUS nutrition. This is NOT what Terri Schiavo is receiving.

I wasn't writing about Terri Schiavo. I was writing about what my family experienced with our parents.

Nor is it what MOST folks in nursing homes are receiving as their nutrition.

I wasn't writing about nursing homes, but in-hospital costs as I made quite clear.

[Coleus]

I'm sorry people have to endure such physical and emotional hardships in their lives.

It's not a decision that I would wish for anyone to have to make.>>>

Yes, it's a tough decision, that's why now in the USA we have DNR rules. But we must realize that the same God who created our lives has the power and authority to end that same life, it's not up to mere human mortals, sinners, to make such decisions. My friend's wife contracted MS right after college and marrying, very young, was not able to have children, she was a bright woman with an engineering degree and died in her late 30's suffering and losing her life during the prime of her life. 10 yrs. later he himself suffered a stroke and had to relearn how to walk, it's been 2 yrs. now and he is now walking a block without his cane, he's still living and suffering and enduring with a strong belief in God where he lives life to the fullest the best he can. It makes Satan very happy when we make the choice of death and take the power away from God calling his children before He wants them called.

[SendShaqtoIraq]

That's correct, but the topic was "food and water." TPN is not "food and water."

[Budge]

Euthanasia made simple!

[supercat]

I agree, but this case is unusual. The hospital is providing exactly the care requested by her guardian. The conflict is between her guardian and her parents.

I made a connection without being clear on the parallel, which is the general principle: it is one thing to decline to provide care for someone; it is another to actively prevent others from providing such care.

[Servant of the 9]

I agree, but this case is unusual. The hospital is providing exactly the care requested by her guardian. The conflict is between her guardian and her parents.

I made a connection without being clear on the parallel, which is the general principle: it is one thing to decline to provide care for someone; it is another to actively prevent others from providing such care.

Again, I agree with you in general, but in this particular case, only her husband/guardian is allowed by law to provide care.
I don't think you would want the law changed so that any time anyone felt that they could outperform a hospital they could simply take over the patients care.
If that were the law, and you were ever in the hospital, someone could walk in off the street and replace your planned surgery with red pepper enemas and prayer, because they didn't think you could wait for surgery.

A patient may always leave a hospital and seek care elsewhere. I don't see any way that could change here without running afoul of the involuntary imprisonment statutes.

So9

[supercat]

Again, I agree with you in general, but in this particular case, only her husband/guardian is allowed by law to provide care.

The problem is that he is not only declining to provide care himself, but he is actively (ab)using his role as guardian to prevent Terri from receiving the care to which she is legally entitled.

If Michael merely didn't feel like bothering to provide care, and if there were nobody else who wanted to provide care, then Terri's neglect would be in some sense understandable. But he is doing much more than neglecting to provide care--he's actively working to ensure that care not be given.

Michael at this point has no legal right to be guardian; the Florida statutes provide that the existence of a potential conflict of interest is sufficient to require the appointment of a guardian ad litem, and the existence of an actual conflict of interest is sufficient to disqualify a guardian. That Michael has openly declared his intention of marrying his mistress as soon as his wife is dead would seem pretty clear proof of conflict of interest, and the fact that he's actively working to get his wife killed so he can marry his mistress reinforces that.

The Schindlers have legal standing to file a guardianship challenge, and indeed they filed one in September of 2002. Unfortunately, there is nothing legally to prevent a judge from granting perpetual continuances to Michael Schiavo and indeed it seems that Judge Greer's intention is that he never hear the guardianship challenge. If he were to hear the challenge, it would be hard for him to claim that the evidence doesn't clearly and compellingly show that Michael is no longer qualified to be Terri's guardian. On the other hand, if he never hears the case, the evidence can't show anything.

[supercat]

Futile Care Theory may be coming to America.

Actually, what needs to be reinforced is that while it's proper to withhold care that is futile, such a designation should not be applied to care which achieves the medical objective ascribed to such care but does not solve other problems.

The purpose of giving someone food is to prevent starvation. If a person's condition is such that either (1) giving the patient food will not stave off starvation (e.g. because they are unable to digest it), or (2) not giving the patient food will not cause starvation, then withholding food could be quite proper (with the caveat that if conditions change so that neither (1) not (2) applies anymore, then food should be given).

If a patient is dying of cancer or some other ailment, and it is apparent that they're going to die of some other cause before they succomb to starvation or dehydration, then it may be proper to withhold food and water unless or until they survive long enough that startvation or dehydration becomes imminent. There's a big difference between that, though, and deciding that giving food and water is futile for anyone who won't lead a suitable "productive" life. Unfortunately, things seem to be shifting toward the latter interpretation of "futility".

[Servant of the 9]

The problem is that he is not only declining to provide care himself, but he is actively (ab)using his role as guardian to prevent Terri from receiving the care to which she is legally entitled.

Yes, but it is not the hospitals job to change that. The hospital's job is to care for people as they or their guardians order. It is the job of other concerned people, if any, to try to replace him as guardian through the courts. Having the hospital decide to overrule a guardian would make for a situation as bad as Englands, not make things better.

So9

[KDubRN]

She only comes close to death when her husband and the Florida courts are allowed to intentionally starve her.

Odd, thing, Terri doesn't meet the Florida definition of PVS.

There is no such word in medical textbooks as "futile" care.

[phenn]

I had an immediate family member who received TPN for over a year because of multiple surgeries. I do not and will never consider it artificial life support. It's food and water delivered in a way in which the patient can accept it.

[Future Useless Eater]

>>The Schindlers have legal standing to file a guardianship challenge, and indeed they filed one in September of 2002. Unfortunately, there is nothing legally to prevent a judge from granting perpetual continuances to Michael Schiavo and indeed it seems that Judge Greer's intention is that he never hear the guardianship challenge. If he were to hear the challenge, it would be hard for him to claim that the evidence doesn't clearly and compellingly show that Michael is no longer qualified to be Terri's guardian. On the other hand, if he never hears the case, the evidence can't show anything.

tutstar, here's another offense being committed by Greer

Greer even went to the EXTREME of scheduling Terri's guardianship
hearing three weeks AFTER her scheduled death.
But when her death was halted, the hearing was
indefinately postponed. Greer is SOOOOOOO slimy and corrupt!