DCF: Terri Schiavo Not Abused, Exploited

ABC/AP ^ | 4.16.05

[ambrose]

DCF: Terri Schiavo Not Abused, Exploited

State Agency: Terri Schiavo Was Not Abused or Exploited by Either Side of Her Family

By VICKIE CHACHERE

The Associated Press

Apr. 16, 2005 - State investigators found no evidence that Terri Schiavo had been abused or exploited by either side of her family, according to documents released by Florida's Department of Children and Families.

The agency investigated 89 complaints dating back to 2001, when Schiavo's feeding tube was removed for the first time and the legal battle surrounding her right-to-die case intensified.

The calls alleged that the brain-damaged woman was being mistreated by her husband and her parents for financial gain. One complaint alleged that Schiavo's parents were selling videos of her through a Web site; another said Schiavo's husband wasn't spending money intended for her rehabilitation.

But investigators said they found no evidence that either her husband or parents were exploiting her, and often noted in their records that they found Schiavo well cared for on their visits to her Pinellas Park hospice.

The agency released the records Friday under court order.

Schiavo, 41, died last month after her feeding tube was removed for the third time, ending a bitter court battle between her husband, Michael Schiavo, and parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, over whether she would have wanted to live in a vegetative state.

The repeated allegations of abuse were based partly on bone scans showing Terri Schiavo suffered fractures and statements she made to family and friends that she was unhappy in her marriage.

Schiavo's husband has denied harming his wife. His lawyer said the fractures resulted from osteoporosis caused by the woman's years of immobility and complications of her medication.

Robert Schindler declined to comment there on the release of the DCF documents. An attorney for Michael Schiavo did not immediately return calls.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Copyright © 2005 ABC News Internet Ventures

[huck von finn]

"I hereby promise to come back from the grave and make his or her existence a living hell." Typically, you assign to yourself godlike power.

No, she assigns herself geistlike power. She may come haunting with a cold beer!

[BigSkyFreeper]

LMAO!!! :)

[MHGinTN]

Could you starve/dehydrate someone to death that smiled at her mother in resonse to her voice?

[68 grunt]

It wasn't a gross misrepresentation, it was a valid perspective. At times it was extremely ugly and viscious and what times do you think the media will shove down our gullets? And why does the media shove that tripe at us? Because it neutralizes us. Which brings us once again to your goal.

[MHGinTN]

Well it better be a Heineken if she wants to share it.

[EternalVigilance]

Do you know what I thought when I saw the protestors dripping in venom and hate?

Hmmmm...that's funny. I was in front of the hospice for over a week, and I missed seeing those protestors. The ones I saw were peaceful concerned Americans of every background who were praying and standing up for what they believed in.

About 10% of the crowd or so were disabled folks who are scared to death about where this case is leading us.

Your reviling of these good people is vile, IMO.

[joesbucks]

I saw no smiles. None. I saw a very determined family make leaps of logic and have many people do the same in a desperate attemtp to make a point. Every person who was fence sitting until after seeing the videos agreed that there was no intended response. Many of these same people were hoping that Terri was resposive or even more.

[joesbucks]

dr. Cranfords comments differ somewhat from your citiation.

[EternalVigilance]

At times it was extremely ugly and viscious

Right...sure...

And along with Felos, you think that what was going on behind those hospice walls was 'peaceful and beautiful'...

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Protestors, as in in front of the 11th Circuit in Atlanta where we live. Hubby even knows one of them. Were you there, too?

[rdcorso]

I don't know what her wishes were but I don't like the way he lied for the money.When he did that it made me question his motives.

[nunya bidness]

Some people were upset with W. and Jeb about what they didn't do; most people were upset with them about what they DID do.

How do you know that?

[MHGinTN]

Amazing ... the videos from 1992 or 1993 show Terri clearly swallowing and licking her lips. Did you know that PVS people can't lick their lips because they don't feel anything to lick at and can't control such a rudimentary action? As for the smiling at her Mother's voice (she was proven to be blind to anythiing not brought to within 18 inches of her face, BTW, but she was not blind by diagnosis), I suppose it is a matter of recognizing what a smile is when you see it and you likely have seen the videos in question and chose to not see a smile coming on Terri's face. sad really ...

[BigSkyFreeper]

I don't know what her wishes were but I don't like the way he lied for the money.When he did that it made me question his motives.

Absurd. He didn't lie for the money. He didn't even accept the bribes coming from supporters of Terri's parents. To me, that spoke volumes about both sides.

[rdcorso]

Did her parents want to kill her before the lawsuit?I thought they always wanted her to live.

[EternalVigilance]

Your representation of Terri's condition is just plain wrong (as though that matters...she still had a constitutional right to life no matter her condition).

I interviewed the nurse that cared for Terri for over 4 months. She described how when she entered the room, Terri lit up. She laughed at her dumb jokes. She joyfully ate the jello cubes she smuggled in to her against the orders of Michael Schiavo.

You folks are doing a grave disservice to this country by what you are doing.

[BigSkyFreeper]

Read the Schiavo threads.

[andysandmikesmom]

Thanks for that link Howlin...I had never read that article before...

[joesbucks]

I tend to agree.

[MHGinTN]

Listen to the video track of his exam and read the transcripts from his testimony. BTW, he visited CNN and FOX to insult and condescend, where he made the astonishing series of comments, first that Terri was brain dead, then that PVS is not a braindead condition, then stated unequivocally that he knew Terri was in PVS. If you want to cite Cranford (the quack), be my guest because he is totally incredible.