Judge says DCF can't intervene in Terri Schiavo case

Associated Press ^ | March 10, 2005 | Mitch Stacy

[amdgmary]

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- A judge ruled Thursday that the state's social services agency cannot delay the removal of the feeding tube keeping brain-damaged Terri Schiavo alive.

The Department of Children & Families had asked for a 60-day delay in the removal of the feeding tube, now scheduled March 18. The agency said it wanted time to investigate allegations of abuse and neglect by the woman's husband, Michael Schiavo.

But Circuit Judge George W. Greer ruled that the agency's attempt to get involved at this point was inappropriate and "appears to be brought for the purpose of circumventing the court's final judgment ... in violation of the separation of powers doctrine."

Michael Schiavo's attorney had criticized the last-minute attempt by DCF to get involved, saying that it was engineered by Gov. Jeb Bush and others in the state government who support the plight of her parents who are trying to keep her alive.

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Michael Schiavo has gotten a court order to remove the feeding tube, contending that his wife told him she wouldn't want to be kept alive artificially. A 1990 heart attack cut off oxygen to her brain for five minutes, leaving her in what the court has ruled is a vegetative state with no consciousness. She breathes on her own but depends on a tube in her abdomen for food and water.

But her parents doubt she had those end-of-life wishes and are trying to block removal of the feeding tube.

The judge's ruling was another major blow to Bob and Mary Schindler, who have fought their son-in-law in court for nearly seven years over their daughter's fate. They dispute that she is in a persistent vegetative state, saying she laughs, cries, interacts with them and tries to speak when they visit her at her hospice.

The DCF said it wanted to investigate accusations against Miachel Schiavo - who is her legal guaridan - that included denying his wife some medical treatment and therapy, isolating her in her room with the blinds closed, failing to fix her broken wheelchair and failing to file timely guardianship plans.

In his order, Greer noted that those and many other allegations have been investigated in the past and failed to yield any evidence of abuse and neglect by Michael Schiavo.

Other than trying to appeal judge's decisions that have gone against them this week, the Schindlers will look again to the state Legislature and perhaps the U.S. Congress for help. Both bodies have bills in the works that lawmakers say could save Terri Schiavo's life.

In Tallahassee Wednesday, a House committee approved a bill requiring doctors to provide nutrition and hydration to incapacitated patients who didn't leave an advance directive. It still needs approval from two more committees before facing the full House.

Bush, who has said he would do anything within his power to save Terri Schiavo, supports the bill.

The governor in October 2003 pushed a law through the Legislature authorizing him to resume the woman's artificial feedings six days after the court stopped them. The law subsequently was ruled unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court.

On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon and U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, both Florida Republicans, introduced legislation in Washington that could give the Schindlers access to federal courts in the effort to save their daughter's life. Their bill requires that incapacitated people who don't leave advance directives have attorneys appointed to give the case a full review before artificial life support is terminated.

[jackibutterfly]

" And you never addressed the advances in testing such as fMRI. Actually, you didn't directly address anything I said."

You're going to find out that he's really good at that, NEVER addressing anything you say. I'd give up on him. We all had a go at him yesterday and the day before, and didn't get ANYWHERE!

[ApesForEvolution]

Uber-Heir's POS For Hire is your nemesis BTTT

[pickyourpoison]

Bump To The Top

[DJ MacWoW]

An fMRI is different. It's new. There have been several articles on FR. And you provided no links. Still. Nor addressed anything else that I said.

New Signs of Awareness Seen in Some Brain-Injured Patients The New York Times | 2/8/05 |

Although the number of patients studied was very small, the specificity and intricacy of the patterns made it all but impossible that the results were a fluke, said Dr. Joy Hirsch, director of the Functional MRI Research Center at Columbia University Medical Center and the study's senior author.

[jackibutterfly]

Huh? What did you say? Is THAT English?

[GrannyAnnie]

PRAY

[Future Useless Eater]

Judge Greer:

in regard to patient Scantlin, news reports state that she was able to blink on command, and therefore, was apparently not in PVS, so the issue of her improvement has limited, if any applicability to this case.

BOY! Greer really pulls that out of his rear! He is willing to cite "news reports" in order to kill Terri, but he won't accept EYE WITNESS TESTIMONY that saves her.

Does he really believe that a Catholic priest (Father Pavone) would LIE? (and during Lent no less?) Would he not believe him that Terri CLOSED HER EYES for prayer on Feb 6 2005, and then OPENED THEM BACK up when the prayer was done? How is that different than "blinking on command". In both cases that PROVES NON-PVS.

TRY taking THAT AFFIDAVIT to Greer's court! It would be hilarious for Greer to REJECT it, after having cited "news reports" proving Scantlin was NOT pvs.

For that matter, send him Affidavits as well, that Terri "raised her RIGHT LEG on command 3 out of 4 times, and in the 4th case she raised her left leg" -Tom Brodersen

Will Greer call him a LIAR too?

Father Pavone reported Terri's Non-PVS condition here
[skip ahead to the 17 minute mark]

[Theodore R.]

Mr. Greer is apparently afflicted with delusions of grandeur: he thinks he's God.

I guess that's what getting 65 percent of the vote does to some politicians.

[bjs1779]

Everyone is lying except for Heisenberg, Michael and Felons. When are you people ever going to get a brain!? : )

[Dog Gone]

These threads can be difficult. Many Terri supporters are so passionate that they're seeing monsters when the issues are rather more complex than that.

[pbmaltzman]

Where do you get the impression that Terri has no cerebral cortex? I am a medical transcriptionist who has typed up many reports for incapacitated patients, and nowhere have I seen a reference to anyone's cerebral cortex just disappearing.

I have read of cases of infants being born with less than a full brain, however.

And, by the way, have you even bothered to look at the videos of Terri which are on several places on the Internet in addition to http://www.terrisfight.org ? She definitely is aware and responds to people and things in her environment, even if she is brain-damaged.

Brain-damaged? Yes. Lacking a cerebral cortex? I don't freakin' think so.

[Saundra Duffy]

DCF is weighing its options. As I see it, they have three, well, really four: (1) Do nothing and let Terri die; (2) Take Terri into protective custody and commence the investigation; 3) Appeal Judge Creep's decision; or (4) Begin the investigation right now while Terri's alive, see how far they get before they find that Michael Schiavo is guilty of abuse, neglect & exploitation at which time they immediately take Terri out of that hospice and to a safe place BEFORE it's too late.

What do you think?

[Graymatter]

Terri "raised her RIGHT LEG on command 3 out of 4 times, and in the 4th case she raised her left leg" -Tom Brodersen

That's more leg lifts than I could do if I were confined to bed for 15 years. As for the 3 out of 4 rating, I'd give her the benefit of the doubt. She probably couldn't do 4 with the same leg and decided (intelligently) that any leg was better than none.

[Ciexyz]

They better do something soon, it's going down to the effin' wire.

[DJ MacWoW]

She has no cerebral cortex.

Still no link to testimony. Still not addressing other questions. No use continuing.But I'll leave you with this from Freeper Catholic and Conservative.

None of the doctors claim she has no living tissue in her cerebral cortex. Dr. Cranford claimed that she had no living neurons in her cortex. On cross-examination, he admitted there might be pockets of viable neurons as "a remote possibility", but even he does not describe them as "isolated". Dr. Greer might agree, but if he does, he didn't say so.

Here is the exchange with Dr. Bambakidis on this issue:

8 Q. Now, is there any brain matter left in

9 Terri Schiavo's cerebral --

10 A. Oh, there is. Yes.

11 Q. -- cerebral hemispheres?

12 A. Yes, there is.

13 Q. And, in your opinion, would any of that

14 tissue be glial cells?

15 A. Yes.

That is all. Michael Schiavo's lawyer creates the impression that Dr. Bambakidis is confirming Dr. Cranford's claim that all of the neurons in Terri's cortex were replaced by glial cells, but that is a false impression. What Dr. Bambakidis actually said is trivial, *everyone* has glial cells in his cortex.

Dr. Bambakidis does say that Terri is in PVS, but the court has made a stronger claim, and claims it to be unanimous medical opinion, on the testimony of one doctor.

From here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1351061/posts?page=303#303

And:

Please name one other doctor in this supposed debate who claims that Terri has no living neurons left in her cerebral cortex. In the court transcript, I saw no one but Dr. Cranford making this claim. It is clear that Drs. Hammasfher and Maxfield do not believe Terri has just "a small amount of isolated living tissue ... or no living tissue in her cerebral cortex", so the court was simply wrong when it said these were the only opinions doctors hold. I would guess that Dr. Bambakidis does not believe this either, based on the testimony I quoted in #303.

The word "isolated" matters because if indeed her cerebral cortex consisted of patches of living neurons separated by scar tissue, her prognosis would be worse if there were no synaptic connections between cells in different patches. The court seems to be going beyond the testimony offered by its five experts.

And Here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1351061/posts?page=306#306

[jackibutterfly]

PBmaltzman - give it up - he won't answer your questions. All he'll do is just copy and paste the same thing he posted before. Nothing more, nothing less. THIS poster is hopeless.

[bjs1779]

Here is his favorite video right here. He runs from it like the plague.

Terri laughing with her father video