House Calling Emergency Session to Vote on Schiavo Legislation; Senate Passes Bill First

AP ^ | 3/20/05 | Jim Abrams

[topher]

Terri is brain dead and her husband has established in court her medical perogatives.

So you and Michael Schiavo are both doctors and lawyers. Glad to know that.

Since you are, then what is your opinion of the fact of Terri trying to say "I want to live" causing so much fuss in the Hospice?

People who are Persistive Vegetative State are not responsive, so what is your and Michael Schiavo's expert opinions?

[Recovering_Democrat]

[SilentServiceCPOWife]

Great post.

[PFKEY]

Finally, I think I understand your issue. PVS and brain dead are not synonymous. They are two very different conditions. Referring to Mrs. Schiavo as brain dead is using a factually erroneous description. I never said anything about PVS.

PVS is her diagnosis is it not?

So when you say you "I never said anything about PVS.", what is it you are discussing?

I thought we were talking about the facts of this case, of Terri's condition. The condition which allows for the removal of her feeding tubes.

What is the point of discussing or arguing other conditions that do not apply to Terri?

Did I err and refer to her condition as brian dead? If I did and confused the matter I appologize.

[LegalEagle61]

C-Span Now--Live coverage of the house

[northernlightsII]

Educate yourself there are actually only 2,that were on that panel of five.
And medical malpractice exists when one fails to follow the accepted standard of care. On that topic I would refer you to an article by Rev. Johnson:Starving for a fair Diagnosis, from nationalreview.com,wed,march 16th 2005.
A prominent neurologist in the US explains clearly that an MRI and PET tests are absolute medical standards now to diagnose PVS.
The judge and husband have hysterically refused such tests,which by the way are non invasive so don't even start with the they don't want to make her suffer anymore.

[TAdams8591]

"The GOP is losing votes over this in Fl."

Terri is losing her life over this in Fl!

[Ciexyz]

McCain's comment made me puke.

[nicmarlo]

Regardless, the guardian ad litem WAS NOT PROVIDED FULL ACCESS TO ALL MEDICAL RECORDS. You discredit the dozens of doctors and hold up the g.a.l.

Preposterous, you are.

[topher]

Since you are, then what is your opinion of the fact of Terri trying to say "I want to live" causing so much fuss in the Hospice?

This occurred on Friday afternoon at the hospice. Attorney Barbara Weller [who could and should be removed from the Bar association if she has lied about this] as well as Terri's sister Suzanne were in attendence.

Terri first uttered "Ahhhh" [for "I"] and then paused for a while and mustered as must strength as she could, and almost yelled "waaaaa" [for want].

Then Terri started crying because she could not say the rest [complete it with "to live"].

It took a while to settle Terri down after this.

It is truly remarkable what a person in "PVS" as "doc30" calls can do!!! Maybe their is a mis-diagnosis there!!!

[PFKEY]

If we don't know what her wishes are -- not accepting the hearsay offered by her motivated "spouse" -- then we should err on the side of life!!!!

I agree...see post#109

[NautiNurse]

The years I worked in neuro, we *always* treated the comatose patients as though they could hear us. We always talked to them, explained every treatment, and discussed prognosis away from the bedside.

As I said the other night, I have seen way too many seemingly hopeless cases walk back into the neuro unit after lengthy rehab to thank us for everything we did.

[SilentServiceCPOWife]

Thanks.

[PFKEY]

You seem to have some hallucinations of your own, to believe that a caring husband would deny his wife the right to have her teeth brushed, or the window to her room opened.

Some people are so blind with emotion.

Like the other fella I said was hallucinating you are seeing words that I never typed.

I'll asked that you do the same as the other guy and quote and reference by post # where I said I believed he was a caring husband.

[topher]

Why is she being starved to death? Becasue she has been diagnosed as being PVS. The state agrees with this diagnosis and the law allows for the removal of her feeding tubes under this diagnosis.

The reason the state can say she is PVS is not that Terri is PVS. It is quite the opposite.

It is because the legal system is broken big time in this case.

Very early in the court proceedings [apparently in the 1990's], the Schindlers were given bad advice to concede that Terri is PVS. However, any medical condition can be mis-diagnosed.

If you doubt that, then you are saying, by your logic, that the world famous miler from Kansas Glenn Cunningham should have all his records erased, all his trophies reclaimed and medals returned.

Why? As a boy, doctors [plural] claimed he would never walk again. He not only walked, he learned to run.

Additionally, PVS patients do not respond vocally to questions. Terri has learned to say "Yes" and "No" -- though it is rather crude.

On Friday, one of Terri's attorneys, Barbara Weller, asked Terri to just say "I want to live". Terri first said "Ahhhh" [for "I"]. Then Terri paused and drew up all the strength she could and shouted out "Waaaa". This caused the policeman and Terri's brother-in-law [her sister Suzanne's husband] to come into the room. Terri's sister Suzanne was in the room with Barbara Weller.

At this point, Terri started crying because she could not continue with "to" and "live". It took a while to calm Terri down.

Now, is this the activity of a PVS person?

[Seattle Conservative]

I watched Dr. Frist in the Sen and the House Pubbies presser on CSPAN. One of the Reps doing most of the talking was a doc from FLA (I think his name was Weldon, but I'm not positive on that). Smith from NJ was the other and both were great! Either Dr. Frist or Dr. Weldon(?) (I think it was the latter) said that he had spoken to a doc (hers I believe) and did not believe she was PVS and could be helped. That the technology today was great. At the very least, she should be provided w more tests. I could be wrong, but I think he said he asked to see her and it was denied. I'll check CSPAN to see if by chance they have the transcripts.

[supercat]

And what of the doctor who was appointed by the State of Florida as her guardian ad litem.

You mean Jay Wolfson? I recall he openly stated that he was against Terri's law even before he met her.

What should happen would be for doctors who want Terri alive to be allowed some reasonable period of time to work with Terri to develop a protocol where she can respond in clearly distinguishable non-reflexive manners to some stimuli. Once they have discovered a set that works well, allow Michael or whomever to select a random sequence in which stimuli will be prevented. Give a transcription of Terri's responses, with the actual stimuli obscured, to another pro-Terri person to try to identify the sequence in which the stimuli were prevented.

This is a test which no amount of wishful thinking would allow Terri to pass if she was PVS, but which would at the same time give Terri the benefit of being tested by people who want her to live.

[middie]

The federal courts will reject jurisdiction of a state probate case. For a bunch that cries "states' rights" and "keep the courts out of state affairs," the political pirates are very keen on demanding intervention in one of the most basic of all purely state issues; the decisison on probate matters.

We are fortunate that there is no war budget to manage, no labor or foreign trade issues, no problem with the economy, healthcare or social security problems to be dealth with. We're damn lucky to have a House and Senate populated by zealots anxious beyond description to become the Hyper-Supreme Court of Florida in combination with instant physicians able to supervene the evaluations of several panels who have made a determination consistent with the criteria set out by the Florida Legislature and courts.

This thing long ago ceased being about the patient and became a power game for the radio talking heads, the extreme Right and those to whom winning the power game is more important than the law or the game's subject. It's a muscle flexing exercise intended to demonstrate to those out of power that they are impotent in the face of the inmates now running the asylum.

[supercat]

Maybe their is a mis-diagnosis there!!!

Or a deliberately spiked diagnosis?

[TAdams8591]

"Not all of them; some believe this is a huge mistake for the GOP."

Who Neil Boortz?? Name them.

"And your lust for your one agenda, using this case to ride to Congress, is going to cost you the one thing you have now: a party in power that can actually DO something about this."

And they are. This case is a GOOD start.

"This is going to destroy the GOP."

Hogwash. LOL! The very idea is laughable and fearmongering at its best!