Posted on 06/17/2005 11:08:07 AM PDT by ClancyJ
TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Jeb Bush asked a prosecutor Friday to investigate why Terri Schiavo collapsed 15 years ago, calling into question a gap in time from when her husband found the woman and called 911. In a letter he faxed to Pinellas-Pasco County State Attorney Bernie McCabe, Bush said Michael Schiavo testified in a 1992 medical malpractice trial that he found his wife collapsed at 5 a.m. and he said in a 2003 television interview that he found her at about 4:30 a.m. He called 911 at about 5:40 a.m.
"Between 40 and 70 minutes elapsed before the call was made, and I am aware of no explanation for the delay,'' Bush said. ""In light of this new information, I urge you to take a fresh look at this case without any preconceptions as to the outcome."
Terri Schiavo died March 31 from dehydration after her feeding tube was disconnected despite unsuccessful efforts by Bush to keep her alive.
The battle between her husband and parents over whether she should be allowed to die also engulfed the courts, Congress, the White House and divided the country. Her autopsy, released earlier this week, showed suffered from severe and irreversible brain-damage.
McCabe was out of state Friday and couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment from The Associated Press. But in comments published Friday by The Miami Herald, he said Terri Schiavo would not have survived if her husband had not immediately called 911.
"It's absolutely preposterous,'' Felos said. "If he had waited 70 minutes she would have been dead.''
Letter To State Attorney From Gov. Jeb Bush
" June 17, 2005 Via Facsimile and U.S. Mail Facsimile The Honorable Bernie McCabe State Attorney for the 6th Judicial Circuit
Dear Mr. McCabe,
Wednesday the Chief Medical Examiner for Pinellas County issued his report on the autopsy of Terri Schiavo. While the report clarifies many questions surrounding the case, it leaves some unanswered.
Of particular interest are the report's findings as to the cause of Mrs. Schiavo's original injuries. The report indicates that there was little evidence of an eating disorder, previously the lead theory of the cause of her injuries. The report also indicates that blood tests conducted on Mrs. Schiavo in 1990 upon her collapse were routine and would not necessarily have detected or ruled out many types of drugs or toxins. The report rules out any overt or blunt trauma, but could not rule out or positively identify other causes. As a result, the cause of her injuries is more in doubt than ever.
Also of interest is the gap in time between Mr. Schiavo's discovery of Mrs. Schiavo's collapse and the 911 call he made to request assistance. According to Mr. Schiavo's testimony in the medical malpractice trial in 1992, he discovered Mrs. Schiavo had collapsed at about 5:00 a.m. According to his comments in a 2003 television interview, he found her at about 4:30 a.m. According to the Chief Medical Examiner's report, Mr. Schiavo placed the 911 call at approximately 5:40 a.m. Between 40 and 70 minutes elapsed before the call was made, and I am aware of no explanation for the delay.
In light of this new information, I urge you to take a fresh look at this case without any preconceptions as to the outcome. I understand that these events took place many years ago, and that you may not be able to collect all the relevant records and physical evidence. However, Mrs. Schiavo's family deserves to know anything that can be done to determine the cause and circumstances of her collapse 15 years ago has been done. The unanswered questions may be unanswerable, but the attempt should be made. Thank you for your consideration of this request.
Sincerely, Jeb Bush "
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Complete official autopsy report here:
http://boortz.com/mp3/archive/schiavoreport.pdf
sorry for the duplication...
This story will never die. Why? Because we must never forget what they did to Terri. It can never be allowed to happen again. NEVER!
Michael Schiavo received a huge settlement based on a lie. I have always wondered why some of the jurors who sat on the original case have not come forward, not to mention the medical personnel involved.
Funny how the media spun the autopsy.
I really don't have any regret that Jessie Jackson showed up, whatever
his motivation.
He was a great comfort to the Schindlers.
Also, he returned to Tallahasse to lobby the members of
the Black Caucus as a follow up to encourage them to carry
legislation which could possibly save Terri.
Regrettably, Terri died before it could succeed.
I had never been a JJ supporter but I pray that his involvment
may return him to his pro-life roots.
What I remember reading was that she was bad enough that she was on a respirator in the hospital for a while, but then recovered a bit and she started breathing on her own.
So, she may have appeared to be dead. Apparently there is a distinction between a heart attack and a cardian arrest, but I'm not sure what the differences are. Anyone wants to answer that, fine. If not, I'll ask my wife when she gets in (she's an RN).
cardian arrest = cardiac arrest.
typing too fast. need....spell...checker.
Autopsy highlights:
T11 endplate fracture (possibly correllates with bone scan)
Renal scar (right)
Heart normal (no evidence of "heart attack" or MI)
"Manner of death: Undetermined"
Dr. Stephen Nelson, Neuropathologist, in a report contained within the autopsy report: "The persistent vegetative state and minimally conscious state are clinical diagnoses, not pathologic ones. The neurophysiologic findings of the persistent vegetative state have been well described in the medical literature ... yet there are no similarly published neurophysiologic descriptions specific to the minimally conscious state".
"In diffuse axonal injury this abnormality is usually due to a shearing injury after acute trauma".
"Neurophysiologic examination alone of the decedent's brain - or any brain for that matter - cannot prove or disprove a diagnosis of persistent vegetative state or minimally conscious state".
From the remainder of the report by Dr. Thogmartin:
"The dosage of epinephrine she recieved was sufficient ... to cause ... lowering of potassium. Thus, it is reasonable to conclude that Mrs. Schiavo's potassium level... measured after a period of ventricular fibrillation, epinephrine, and fluid administration was an unreliable measure of her pre-arrest potassium level. Thus, the main piece of evidence supporting a diagnosis of Bulimia Nervosa is suspect or, at least, can be explained by her clinical condition at the time of the blood draw. Although in the malpractice proceedings the low protein values were suggested as indicators of malnutrition, this is unlikely and not generally characteristic of Bulimia Nervosa."
"Autopsy examination of her neck structures 15 years after her initial collapse did not detect any signs of remote trauma, but, with such a delay, the exam was unlikely to show any residual neck findings. Even bony anomalies would have likely resolved." (or suffocated, n.b.)
"What was the cause and manner of death? Mrs. Schiavo suffered a severe anoxic brain injury. The cause of which cannot be determined with reasonable medical certainty. The manner of death will therefore be certified as undetermined".
Oh yea! I remember him. He was gov. of Florida and didn't do much of anything when that poor girl was starved to death. Her parents and family had to watch her slowly die. Later they tried to make a big deal out of her autopsy deatils in an attempt to justify her murder.
Shortly after her death Bush got ahold of some poll data showing that his political career was pretty much toast because of what he did. Or rather, because of what he didn't do because he would not put his political future on the line. So he called for some kind of lame investigation that never went anywhere.
What ever happened to him?
He's running in 2012.
Panderbear.
What complete crap. That assertion that its his fault and no one elses is bias pure and simple, yet you state it as fact. Lets not go there again, shall we?
I think the statute of limitations had passed by the time her parents saw the radiology reports a few years back.
Now she's dead, and if Michael was involved in her death, he might possibly be prosecutable.
Difference between heart attack & cardiac arrest explained here: http://www.aedhelp.com/sca/sca_same.cfm
Also, heart attacks leave artefacts; cardiac arrest does not, IIRC.
Thanks for the link.
Like a lot of people I never knew the difference between the two.
That link says you've only got ten minutes to get help if your heart just suddenly stops beating.
That's not much time.
I think I read that it was June 28, 2005.
Agree or disagree with his views in this, he's not backing away, as Frist did. Jeb is no hypocrite.
You nailed it, DJ. Why is a feeding tube so "artificially" different from the many treatments commonly received by so many to sustain life. Add kidney dialysis to your list.
My husband gets a shot 4x a year to prevent the advance of cancer. Who has a problem with the ever-increasing solutions of the medical field?
Florida lawmakers decided to decree that feeding tubes fall into the same category as life-support only recently.
Was it 1999? That year Terri Schiavo's right to live was in jeopardy.
We all have reason to fear that some circumstance just may put our right to live in the hands of the government.
Hopefully, more U.S. citizens will wake up to the threat.
It was 99. And it was part of an "End of Life" Bill. It specifically stated that Florida has one of the largest elderly populations. There needs to be more dicussion of that Bill as the retirees should know just "what" they're retiring to.
Section 1. End-of-life care.--
26 (1)(a) The Legislature finds that Florida, as the
27 fourth most populous state, is highly diverse with regard to
28 race, ethnicity, urban and rural locales, religious practices,
29 and cultural traditions. Florida has the largest percentage of
30 elderly residents, the third largest incidence of AIDS, and
1 the fourth highest death rates from heart disease and chronic
2 obstructive pulmonary disease in the nation.
3 (b) The Legislature finds that the Panel for the Study
4 of End-of-Life Care has recommended policies that will assure
5 the citizens of this state the highest quality of
6 compassionate, competent, and adequate end-of-life care.
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