LOL! Great post! I see the defenders of Michael are getting fewer and fewer. That is a good thing. I really can't believe MS would even think about suing again after all that has happened. It is defintely for the money, how could anyone not see that? Anyone with a shred of decency would leave this alone.
Maybe they're getting some sense now that their man MS is busily proving that their defenses of him were wrong. Now the only MS supporters left are those who are the slowest on the uptake and least effective.
Oh the irony...LMAO.
C. Richard Bowers, MD Published April 17, 2005
Sarasota, Fla. -- After more than four decades of my treading the halls of medical pavilions as a physician, I can unashamedly say that I have, indeed, seen it all. In her unfortunate circumstances, Terri Schiavo is not the first nor the last to experience such terminal care.
Speaking with Sarasota physicians, plus my many personal encounters in essentially identical circumstances, solidly reaffirms my impressions that media magnification, irrational personal fantasizing (bordering on hysteria), reprehensible bottom-line exploiters and, sadly, political opportunists, all contributed to an ugly, public, two-week, moralistic frenzy here in Florida.
As an intern, 60 years ago, I first saw decent, honorable medical-care providers respond to a caring family's request to "let Dad go." I would see this happen to "Jimmy," "Grandpa," "Aunt Elsie," "Bubba" and many more over the years as loving families and caregivers simply "let go."
There were no magic plugs to pull in those days. Performing triage and surgical care in a combat zone years later forced some of us, in the absence of family, to make frequent "Schiavo-like" decisions in a matter of minutes. In one 24-hour period, three of us processed more than 200 surgical casualties in one receiving area. Inundation with combat casualties blurs that fine line between skills and instincts. You strain for the very best. You literally cry for God's help.
That inherent love of life haunted every medical caregiver I've ever known and none of us was immune to second-guessing, or tears.
So many of us have been there, done that--and it's never easy.
In America alone, a brain-ravaged soul departs this life, in circumstances comparable to Terri Schiavo's, every few minutes. While you have been reading this, nine or 10 such patients, at least, have stepped into eternity.
An IV discontinued. A feeding tube removed. A respirator disconnected.
It will continue ad infinitum.
I am so grateful that the definitive medical caregivers, at least here in America, are so capable, so virtuous, so loving. Unwanted and unwarranted intrusions into matters so very personal by politicians, legislators and the media are shameful and offensive.
Chicago Tribune (http://www.chicagotribune.com/)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/letters/chi-0504170484apr17,1,4485224.story?ctrack=1&cset=true
For those involved, it took years of anguish, debate, and court hearings to finally let Terri go. The rest of us have no business in the affair.