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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.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

[cyncooper]

So basically, you haven't told me anything I didn't already know.

So if you were feeling smugly superior you can drop it.

The fear is laws will be drawn up requiring certain procedures that currently patients would refuse or have a right to discontinue.

[txrangerette]

I received this in my mailbox today:

---

Congress of the United States
House of Representatives

Dear _________:

Thank you for contacting me to express your opposition to the removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube.

As you know, Terri passed away on March 31, 13 days after her feeding tube was disconnected. My thoughts and prayers are with her family as they grieve over her loss.

What made this situation difficult are the many unresolved questions.

For instance, what were Terri's wishes? She never prepared a living will to express definitively what her wishes were. So we are left with conflicting accounts of what course of action she would have wanted.

Some say this should be a family issue. However, we have a family that disagreed on the fate of Terri Schiavo's life. While her husband wanted to remove her feeding tube, her parents were willing to do everything it took medically, emotionally and financially to save the live of their child.

We have some doctors saying that she would not have recovered. Yet we also have other Neurologists saying that with the proper medical care, there is a chance that she could have improved considerably.

Let us be clear. Terri was not on life support, she was not brain-dead, and no heroic measures were needed to keep her alive; she simply had the assistance of a feeding tube for food and water.

Since these crucial questions remain disputed, I believe the responsible course is to err on the side of life.

After state court appeals were exhausted, a congressional effort was made to provide a final opportunity for her parents' concerns to be heard. On March 21, Congress passed a bill that established narrow Federal jurisdiction for this particular case. The law allowed Terri's parents to file a lawsuit in Federal court on behalf of their daughter for a violation of any right under the U.S. Constitution or laws relating to "the withholding of food, fluids or medical treatment necessary to sustain her life."

I voted for this legislation.

One of the primary duties of the Federal government and members of Congress is to uphold and defend the Constitution and the individual rights it sets forth. Congress acted to allow that every possible legal process has been exhausted to ensure that Terri Schiavo's Federal rights have been properly defended. One of those rights is the right to life. The Fourteenth Amendment establishes that "no State shall deprive any person of life, liberty, and property, without due process of law." Every day, in cases where the action of the state will result in the death of an individual, that individual is provided the opportunity to have their case heard in both the state and Federal court systems.[Here he speaks of deathrow inmates' right to Habeas Corpus]

I and many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle believed Terri Schiavo should have been afforded this same opportunity.

Although Terri's parents were able to appeal to the Federal courts, they were not able to win an injunction to have the feeding tube reinserted. She ultimately starved to death.

I want you to know that I am very concerned about the road we are traveling down when it come to issues of life, and the Schiavo case highlights those concerns. That is why I will continue to work in Congress to ensure that even the most vulnerable in our society are afforded the most basic constitutional protection - the right to life.

Sincerely,

Randy Neugebauer
19th District, Texas

[Drango]

I'm a republican, not a theocrat.

You could have fooled us.

[nunya bidness]

I'm not here to do anyone's homework, least of which, anyone who claimed they already read the Schiavo threads.

Right. Thanks for your time.

[cyncooper]

I'm a republican, not a theocrat.

Oh poo. I thought I read a post you wrote the other day (with much fanfare and huffing and puffing) that you were leaving the party.

[BigSkyFreeper]

You could have saved your time and mine by picking any one of the voluminous number of Schiavo threads and seen what it was you were looking for.

[EternalVigilance]

Randy is one of the good guys.

I was real happy when he won the new seat.

It is truly pro-life conservative Congressmen like him that keep my hopes alive.

[RightWhale]

The issue of State mandated life, or more properly, State control of death, is growing every day.

As far as the TS case is concerned, I don't believe anybody. At best, the various actors don't have a complete picture of what is happening, and that includes our elected leaders.

[Freedom Dignity n Honor]

.

[BigSkyFreeper]

I'm a republican, not a theocrat.

The years I've known you here, you've never expressed any Republican party ideals. You spend all your time bashing any Republican on these forums.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

procedures that currently patients would refuse or have a right to discontinue.

Wouldn't that be fun? Family taking the government to court, to get a feeding tube removed on a PVS patient, and the family loses in court? This opposite scenario just points out that making more LAWS will not solve this problem. Leave it in the hands of the PEOPLE.

[EternalVigilance]

Oh poo. I thought I read a post you wrote the other day (with much fanfare and huffing and puffing) that you were leaving the party.

You need to learn the difference between big 'R' and little 'r' republicanism.

I'm now an Independent, and intend to stay that way. But I will always be a republican til the day I die, or the Lord comes back.

Then I will be a theocrat...but not until then.

[onyx]

I told onyx and onyx said she would consider it in the future.





Gee, you mean the G mail?
Guess that's what Shep means with his G block.
Has a whole block of 'em...lol.

[onyx]

To: BigSkyFreeper
Oh, good, just what she needs: another email account not to check. :-)



220 posted on 04/16/2005 9:28:06 PM PDT by Howlin




ROTFLOL!
Please ping the person you talk about...lol.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

But, doesn't the patient have the right to determine the quality of life they want? Isn't this solely in their hands and no one elses? I wouldn't want someone else to decide for me how I should have to live.

Terri decided, her next of kin spoke for her, the court ruled in his favor and life sustaining measures were removed.

[KDD]

Terri is given food and water through tubes. Is disconnecting a feeding tube the same as ending life support?

Yes, under Florida law, which governs the ability of each person to determine, or to appoint someone to determine, whether each of us should receive what the Legislature terms "life-prolonging medical procedures." The Legislature has explained:


The Legislature recognizes that for some the administration of life-prolonging medical procedures may result in only a precarious and burdensome existence. In order to ensure that the rights and intentions of a person may be respected even after he or she is no longer able to participate actively in decisions concerning himself or herself, and to encourage communication among such patient, his or her family, and his or her physician, the Legislature declares that the laws of this state recognize the right of a competent adult to make an advance directive instructing his or her physician to provide, withhold, or withdraw life-prolonging procedures, or to designate another to make the treatment decision for him or her in the event that such person should become incapacitated and unable to personally direct his or her medical care.
§ 765.102(3), Florida Statutes.

The Legislature has also defined what is a "life-prolonging procedure":


"Life-prolonging procedure" means any medical procedure, treatment, or intervention, including artificially provided sustenance and hydration, which sustains, restores, or supplants a spontaneous vital function. The term does not include the administration of medication or performance of medical procedure, when such medication or procedure is deemed necessary to provide comfort care or to alleviate pain.
§ 765.101(10), Florida Statutes (italics added by me).



Why did Terri’s husband get to make the decision about whether she should live or die?

Michael Schiavo did not make the decision to discontinue life-prolonging measures for Terri.

As Terri's husband, Michael has been her guardian and her surrogate decision-maker. By 1998, though -- eight years after the trauma that produced Terri's situation -- Michael and Terri's parents disagreed over the proper course for her.

Rather than make the decision himself, Michael followed a procedure permitted by Florida courts by which a surrogate such as Michael can petition a court, asking the court to act as the ward's surrogate and determine what the ward would decide to do. Michael did this, and based on statements Terri made to him and others, he took the position that Terri would not wish to continue life-prolonging measures. The Schindlers took the position that Terri would continue life-prolonging measures. Under this procedure, the trial court becomes the surrogate decision-maker, and that is what happened in this case.

The trial court in this case held a trial on the dispute. Both sides were given opportunities to present their views and the evidence supporting those views. Afterwards, the trial court determined that, even applying the "clear and convincing evidence" standard -- the highest burden of proof used in civil cases -- the evidence showed that Terri would not wish to continue life-prolonging measures.

[BigSkyFreeper]

LOL! Years ago when my uncle got set up with a new computer and the internet, he called me on the phone and asked my suggestion for a free e-mail solution and I said Hotmail is great! Give it a try, and day later he called and said he went there and saw gay porn and I said "not Hot Male! Hotmail!" and spelled it out for him. LOL

[onyx]

LOL!