Terri Schiavo Cremated Amid Family Feud

Fox News Alert ^ | 4/2/05 | Fox News

[WhistlingPastTheGraveyard]

Terri Schiavo Cremated Amid Family Feud

Saturday, April 02, 2005

TAMPA, Fla.  Terri Schiavo's body was cremated Saturday as disagreements continued between her husband and her parents, who were unable to have their own independent expert observe her autopsy.

The cremation was carried out according to a court order issued Tuesday establishing that Michael Schiavo () had the right to make such decisions, said his lawyer, George Felos. He said plans for burying her ashes in Pennsylvania, where she grew up, had not yet been completed.

Terri Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, had wanted to bury their daughter in Pinellas County so they could visit her grave.

Terri Schiavo, 41, died Thursday after the removal of the feeding tube that had kept her alive since 1990, when she suffered brain damage that court-appointed doctors determined had placed her in a persistent vegetative state (). Her parents had fought in court to keep her alive, disputing the doctors' opinions and saying there was hope of improvement.

Full article here

[dinok]

"What the heck is wrong with Florida?"

What's wrong is the people from New York that have moved there and taken their liberal attitudes with them and also the fact that Jeb Bush didn't have the intestinal fortitude to do what's right and stop Terri's killing.

I didn't expect a proper autopsy to be performed. All the principals involved, from the White House on down want this to go away. They want us conservatives who fought for Terri to go away...we and her were a nuisance that detracted from their agendas.

[Smartaleck]

So what's your point? He ripped off his patients, was cited, fined and put on probation and he tried to do the same to the Schindlers?

Fl Statutes 451.331 1 n
"(n) Exercising influence on the patient or client in such a manner as to exploit the patient or client for financial gain of the licensee or of a third party, which shall include, but not be limited to, the promoting or selling of services, goods, appliances, or drugs."

How does this relate to court testimony by him in Terri's case where he could produce on proof of his claims?

His treatment pertains to "stroke patients". Were you aware Terri did not have stroke or at least was not diagnosed as having one?

[DCBill]

I don't think so--the most recent one died in 2004.

[tacomonkey2002]

Is it even plausible that MS was injecting her with insulin and the nurse not report it to someone in a position of authority..and then that person not do anything about it? ]]]

I think that you are missing the point.
The different care givers affidavits are very consistent in testimony:

""When Michael visited Terri, he always came alone and always had the door closed and locked while he was with Terri. He would typically be there about twenty minutes or so. When he left Terri would would be trembling, crying hysterically, and would be very pale and have cold sweats. It looked to me like Terri was having a hypoglycemic reaction, so I’d check her blood sugar. The glucometer reading would be so low it was below the range where it would register an actual number reading. I would put dextrose in Terri’s mouth to counteract it. This happened about five times on my shift as I recall. Normally Terri’s blood sugar levels were very stable due to the uniformity of her diet through tube feeding. It is my belief that Michael injected Terri with Regular insulin, which is very fast acting.""from Carla Iyer's deposition paragragh 11

""11. On one occasion Michael Schiavo arrived with his girlfriend, and they entered Terri’s room together. I heard Michael tell his girlfriend that Terri was in a persistent vegetative state and was dying. After they left, Olga told me that Terri was extremely agitated and upset, and wouldn’t react to anyone. When she was upset, which was usually the case after Michael was there, she would withdraw for hours. We were convinced that he was abusing her, and probably saying cruel, terrible things to her because she would be so upset when he left.

16. Several times when Michael visited Terri during my shift, he went into her room alone and closed the door. This worried me because I didn’t trust Michael. When he left, Terri was very agitated, was extremely tense with tightened fists and some times had a cold sweat. She was much less responsive than usual and would just stare out the window, her eyes kind of glassy. It would take much more time and effort than usual to work her hands open to clean her palms."""--HEIDI LAW affidavit paragraphs 11 and 16

And this one:

http://www.hospicepatients.org/cjohnson-08-28-03-affidavit-re-terri-schiavo-michael.pdf

Why was she allowed no stimulation?

I was reading about a guy in California named Robert Wendland....his wife tried to get him killed, and they did the same thing: Isolate and remove all stimulation.

I think thats weird and creepy...(just mho)

tom

[Smartaleck]

"No stimulation of any kind."

"At the medical malpractice trial against doctors who treated Schiavo in 1992, Mary Schindler spoke with admiration about Schiavo's attentiveness to her disabled daughter."

"He's there every day," she said. "He is loving, caring. I don't know of any young boy that would be as attentive. ... He's just been unbelieveable. And I know without him there is no way I could have survived all this."

Bob Schindler later testified that he vividly recalled Schiavo promising to give half of anything he won in court.

"I said to him we have to get something *****because of my tax situation,"***** Schindler testified.

http://www.sptimes.com/2003/11/23/Tampabay/Schiavo_clash_is_root.shtml

[Smartaleck]

"I didn't expect a proper autopsy to be performed."

How can you say that when the findings haven't even been done much less published yet?

[cajungirl]

read the very last sentence which refers to the ME and Judge Greer.

[cajungirl]

OH, I see what you are referring to. Apparently the DCF never interviewed MS and did not see Terri, I read somewhere that he refused access to her. I don't know that an investigation was done.

[supercat]

I agree. This is where preparation by the lawyers is crucial. It would appear that Dr. Walker didn't do his homework or the lawyers didn't. MS's on the other hand did.

I thought there were restrictions on lawyers talking with witnesses outside the presence of opposing attourneys. Not that such things don't happen anyway, of course, but I thought one was required to at least give notice of one's meeting and allow the other lawyer to attend. I don't think the Schindlers would have been able to afford having their lawyer at every meeting between Felos and his 'witnesses", but I suspect Felos would have made it a point to be represented (personally or by staff) at every meeting between the Schindlers and theirs.

There was a claim by the parents lawyer that they didn't know about the bone scan, yet MS's lawyer demonstrated that they did. This kind of false or incorrect accusation makes the parents lawyers look inept and my guess probbably ticked the judge off some?

How did MS demonstrate that?

[supercat]

"At the medical malpractice trial against doctors who treated Schiavo in 1992, Mary Schindler spoke with admiration about Schiavo's attentiveness to her disabled daughter."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the general claim among Terri supporters is that Michael was nice to Terri until he received the malpractice money, and was a monster after that. I don't see how Mary Schindler's admiration for Michael at the malpractice trial would contradict that claim in the slightest.

[silverleaf]

Ah, I see it was beyond your ability to scroll to the pages and paragraphs I cited to see what the court found out about the actual medical results of his treatment. Almost uniformly improved every patient he treated, including the one who sued him for a $1,000 overcharge.

Yes Dr Hammesfahr treats mostly brain injuries caused by stroke- he has treated at least one strangulation victim, Terri may have been his second. He was almost certain he could have helped Terri improve her quality of life.
His treatment was noninvasive and results could have been shown in months.

But the court "grew impatient" with the delays in killing her.

Sad sad sad.

BTW- Remind me never to appoint you my guardian.

[silverleaf]

Micheal Schiavo made his beloved Terri sit in the dark alone for hours..... He also wouldn't let her have music, TV, stuffed animals, pictures on the walls or even the windows open for fresh air....

Yes, Terri never left her hospice room in the nearly 5 years Mikie had her committed there. If her family opened the window blinds while they visited, a nurse phoned Mikie and reported them for violating his directives on her care. Her broken wheelchair sat in a corner from 2000 to the day of her death. Flowers filled her room as she died, but while she was alive Mikie directed that all flowers be sent to the nurses' station.

No one has ever said who bought her the "stuffed tabby cat" she had propped under her arm as she died. Wanna bet it was Mikie? Mocking her for the fact that he had her beloved cats put to sleep shortly after her "accident"?.

[silverleaf]

but the general claim among Terri supporters is that Michael was nice to Terri until he received the malpractice money

This is not a general claim. It was a finding of fact by Richard Pearse, who was court-appointed as Terri's Guardian ad litem in 1998. It is contained in his report to the court, where he recommended Mickie's removal as Terri's guardian due to financial conflicts of interest in making decisions about keeping her alive and ensuring proper care. His 1998 report to the court is available for review on any number of web sites.

Pearse's recommendation was rejected by Judge Greer and he was dismissed as GAL. He received about $5,000 of Terri's trust fund for his time and effort.

[toldyou]

Not sure if this has been posted before....lots of info and interesting links:

http://www.apfn.org/apfn/terri_michael.htm

[supercat]

This is not a general claim. It was a finding of fact by Richard Pearse, who was court-appointed as Terri's Guardian ad litem in 1998.

By "general claim", I did not mean in any way to downplay the accusation. Rather, I wanted to be more concise than "While there are many minor differences in the viewpoints of Terri's supporters, one thing that most of recognize is that..."

I did not wish to make the categorical statement that "none" of Terri's supporters dispute that Michael treated Terri well prior to his receipt of the malpractice award, since there are some that do [suggesting that Michael was indeed quite sadistic when nobody was watching]. The key point, though, is that there is--among Terri's supporters--almost universal recognition that Michael's outward behavior toward Terri changed when he got the malpractice award. Consequently, any statement about Michael treating Terri well prior to the award have zero relevance in assessing how well he treated her afterward.

[dinok]

"I didn't expect a proper autopsy to be performed.

How can you say that when the findings haven't even been done much less published yet?"

The local coroner refused to have family appointed observers. The guilty hide things...the Innocent leave the doors open to make sure there is not issue or question left unanswered.

[rdl6989]

TERRI SUFFERED A SPINAL INJURY. WE WANT TO KNOW HOW IT HAPPENED! Yes we do! Thanks for this info!

[Fruit of the Spirit]

They said they performed an autopsy prior to the cremation. However, they won't have the results for a month or two.

IF they performed an autopsy, the questions remains whether or not they'll release their findings to the public/press.

[Fruit of the Spirit]

Michael Schiavo has not spoken publicly since his wife's death, but Felos said Saturday: "He's holding up. It's very difficult for him."

Very creepy, indeed!

I'll bet Mikey went home to his common-law wifey and said, "At last! We can finally get married."

[river rat]

It's really FloriDUH

Semper Fi