The following snippet is from trail testimony by Dr. Gambone.
P Anderson is questioning.
Q. Are the patients generally expected to die within six months of their admittance? Isnt that a Hospice policy?
A. No, its not a Hospice policy. Its just a guideline that is used to determine the prognosis for Hospice.
Q. Its kind of a rule of thumb?
A. Yes.
Next: From HOSPICE SERVICES COVERAGE AND LIMITATIONS HANDBOOK page 2-2
Requirements to Receive Services
Election Criteria To qualify for the Medicaid hospice program, all recipients must:
Be eligible for Medicaid hospice;
Be certified by a physician as terminally ill with a life expectancy of six months or less if the disease runs its normal course
My question is this. Ms Anderson should have framed it as Medicaid requirements instead of Hospice requirments. However by agreeing to it being a "rule of thumb" it would seem that Gambone lied to the court when in fact it is not a rule of thumb, but Florida law. Felos, being former director of Woodside Hospice knew that. And yet, he allowed the lie to stand.
In and of itself, 1 instance would probably not draw attention. Or would it? But what if someone with knowledge examined the record and found a pattern of this? Would that be enough to warrant an investigation regarding felos both criminally (someone died) and with the bar?
Felos scares me. He is the legal profession's version of Kevorkian. He, of course, sees Terri's death as a success which will fuel his desire and make the next one much easier for him. I truly believe he is a threat.
I am a legal dummy, so excuse me if the question does not make sense. I guess I am asking what are felos' responsibilities to the court when he allows false or misleading testimony to stand?
One does not have to be an expert in legal matters to understand that it is Judicial Homicide (new word: JUDICIDE). What good are laws currently on the books if lawyers and judges simply ignore them and re-create law, rather than interpret? Thanks for your post!