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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.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

[unbalanced but fair]

Why is removing a ventilator different than removing a feeding tube?

[andysandmikesmom]

My son who died was Mike...Mike was 15 when he died...Andy, my younger son, was 11 when his big brother died...

I was also so hurtful for Andy...he loved and idolized his big brother, and it really was hard for him to go on without him...it was a real struggle for me to be a good mom to Andy, when I was so grief stricken over Mikes death...but somehow we all got through it together...

Today, Andy is almost 31...and he lives life to the fullest, sometimes going to extremes...he travels all over the world(not as a regular tourist, but rather as a backpacker and observer of life on the road)...he participates in many 'activities, such as bungee jumping, snowboarding, skiing, deep sea diving, hiking up to the Everest Base Camp, jet skiing, glacier climbing, just to mention a few...and oh yes, he enjoys a myriad of ladies...he regrets that he always has to return to the working world, in order to finance his next trip...but also realizes that his job, is what allows him to do as he wishes...

I sometimes believe that Andy is living life large, because he has seen firsthand, ,how fragile life is, and he lives life double, once for himself, and once for his dead brother...

Hes a good son to me and the hubby, and he always realizes how hard it was to lose Mike...

Thanks for your comments...now you have got me tearing up(but at this point in my life, it is a good cry, as I realize I lost Mike, but I had him for 15 wonderful years and for that I am grateful)

[cyncooper]

You're having a tantrum and felt the need to announce it?

OK but we already kind of knew that.

[andysandmikesmom]

Thank you both for your kind remarks...

[MHGinTN]

Peace be with you, Lady. Andy has a wonderful Mom.

[andysandmikesmom]

I think you do ask a valid question....and I think, again, that if you ask different people that question, you will get a myriad of answers....no everyone feels the same about this....many people believe that both a ventilator, and a feeding tube are artificial means of breathing and eating...

My parents felt this way...at the end of their lives, they considered both ventilators and feeding tubes, to be an intrusion that they did not want for themselves...

Other people feel differently...especially when not at the end of their lives...

When my son was in intensive care, there was a young teen who was also in intensive care...she had very bad asthma, and had to be on a ventilator, and had a feeding tube, to feed her while on the ventilator...when she was weaned off the ventilator, she was slowly weaned off the feeding tube...ventilators, and feeding tubes, can and do save lives, lives which can be rehabilitated, and returned to their families...

I guess that for many, the real question, is what state was Terri Shiavo in, and could she feel her hunger and her thirst...I shudder to think that she felt what was happening to her...

But whether any of us like it or not, there are many who consider a feeding tube to be just as intrusive as a ventilator, and there are those who consider a feeding tube to be just an alternate way of feeding someone...its all in the eye of the beholder, I think...

[TAdams8591]

A ventilator is extraordinary means, the machine is doing the work of the lungs. A feeding tube is ordinary means, and is NOT doing the work of the stomach. Many times it is inserted for the convenience of the care givers.

BTW, feeding tubes have been around since Egyptian times with improvements over many years. They have been used to put nutrition into the stomache via the nasal cavity since the 1600's and were used fairly commonly since the civil war. The latest innovation was developed in 1979, and they have been used with greater frequency ever since.

[andysandmikesmom]

I try to be a good mom...I know my son knows this, in spite of my failings and mistakes along the way...thanks for your comments...

[TAdams8591]

It is NOT a matter of opinion. Feeding tubes are quite different from ventilators and have been around for centuries.

[unbalanced but fair]

So suffocating someone is okay? I can remember the days of people in iron lungs. That would be extrordinary means?

[MHGinTN]

I have a dear cousin caring for her step mother, using a feeding tube because to feed her by mouth is so tedious (keeping suction close at hand to prevent aspirations) and time consuming that it is better for the stepmother and my cousin that a tube be used. The Lady cannot talk (extreme tardive diskenesis), but she does like having that food 'fill up her tummy'.

[andysandmikesmom]

But I think to many people, it is a matter of opinion...some people see feeding tubes as being intrusive, involving a medical procedure...you may not agree with that, or I may not agree with that, but many people do agree with that...

And it does not matter how long they have been around...its just that many, many people see feeding tubes as being intrusive, artificial, and involving a medical procedure...I know, I know, I have read all the arguments back and forth about whether or not feeding tubes are 'artificial'....people do have their opinions on this, and they are not going to change them...that is all I am saying....to you its not an opinion, but to many others, it is...

[MHGinTN]

That was not what TA was saying. I came down with polio in 'those days' of iron lungs breathing for people. It was extrordinary means to help people (bulbar polio attacked the nerves supporting the diaphram/lung function), but it was not wrong to do so.

[andysandmikesmom]

I personally think that feeding tubes are wonderful, for those who cannot take food or drink by mouth...I have worked with a few patients who had feeding tubes, and led very productive fullfilling lives...

But there are those, who consider a feeding tube not to be something they would want for themselves...

[Miss Behave]

Andyandmikesmom, thank you for sharing with us, through pnsn, what you wrote. Know that you have many here holding you in our prayers. Andy sounds like a fine young man, of which you and your loving husband I'm sure are so very proud. And your Mike is always with all of you. The Lord will always help you and your family in carrying your daily, heavy burden. Fall into his hands--I'm sure you do. And take care of yourself, good mother, andyandmikesmom.

[MHGinTN]

And that is their right. Hopefully, such wishes would be stated in written, witnessed form, not established via too-long delayed hearsay by a person unfit to be the guardian of a disabled person.

[unbalanced but fair]

Thank you for your reply.

I have a problem with this delineation that people make about which forms of life support are ordinary and which are not. As I say in another post, I remember the people in iron lungs. I also know someone who was weaned off a ventilator and is now quite well. What if their plug had been pulled?

I've also read people's posts who refer to it as being acceptable to remove life support if a person is terminal or they're elderly. So they do make their own judgments about who is to live and who isn't.

I too feel for your loss, as I have experienced my own, my parents and a sister. But truly, yours must be the hardest of all.

[andysandmikesmom]

Thanks for your kind thoughts and your prayers...I can use all the help I can get, to get through each day...

[TAdams8591]

Suffocating someone is not the same as removing a ventilator, sorry.

[unbalanced but fair]

I thought it was pretty clear. I think it reinforces the fine line that we walk on this issue. What is acceptable? What is extraordinary? If this is a personal decision and/or belief, do we have the right to impose it on others? If each of us has a different viewpoint, can we ever reach a consensus? Should we even reach a consensus?