'Exit protocol' for brain-disabled woman? (Breaking - Schiavo)

WorldNetDaily ^ | Aug. 29, 2003 | Sarah Foster

[kimmie7]

'Exit protocol' for brain-disabled woman? Husband orders wife removed from hospital despite severe illness

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: August 29, 2003 6:15 p.m. Eastern

By Sarah Foster © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

A five-year legal battle over whether a brain-disabled woman should be allowed to live or forced to die of starvation took another turn today when Michael Schiavo ordered his wife Terri removed from a hospital where she is being treated for a severe infection.

Terri Schindler-Schiavo before her disability.

The move back to a hospice where the Florida woman has lived for more than three years could lead to her death, a family spokeswoman told WorldNetDaily.

"The family is very concerned Terri won't be properly cared for at the hospice and won't make it through the weekend," said Pamela Hennessey.

Terri still is reported to be "extremely congested and at least a bit feverish," Hennessey said.

The Schindler family fears this move is intended as an "exit protocol," with the intention of hastening her death, Hennessey said in a just-issued statement.

"There can't be any way Terri was well enough to leave the hospital," Terri's sister Suzanne Schindler-Carr told Hennessey. "She's still such a very sick girl."

It was the second such crisis in less than two weeks and the most recent development in the on-going battle between Terri's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, and their son-in-law that began with his efforts to remove the feeding tube Terri depends upon for sustenance.

Michael Schiavo (Photo: WFLA-TV)

According to documents filed with the court, Terri was transferred Sunday from the Hospice of the Florida Suncoast to the emergency room of Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater, Fla., because of vomiting, fever, coughing, and severe diarrhea. Tests revealed lung congestion and an elevated white blood cell count, indicating a "substantial infection."

The Schindler's attorney Patricia Anderson said a federal statute prohibits an institution from discharging a person before they've been stabilized medically. But a patient can always discharge himself against medical advice.

"Since Michael Schiavo is Terri's legal guardian, he can do that, and that's what he's doing," said Anderson.

By order of an appeals court, Judge George Greer of Florida's 6th Circuit Court will hold a hearing Sept. 11 to set a date for removing the feeding tube, which would lead to starvation within 10 to 14 days.

Schiavo's request to order Terri returned to the hospice was faxed to Greer yesterday by his legal representative, right-to-die attorney George Felos, and is the second attempt this week to ensure his wife receives no medical treatment.

The day following her readmission to Morton Plant, Felos filed papers asking the court to order all treatment for Terri stopped "other than comfort care" for her infection and any additional medical problems that might arise.

In an emergency motion faxed Monday afternoon to Greer, Felos argued that since the courts of Florida had approved the removal of her feeding tube, death by starvation was a foregone conclusion and there was no need to intervene.

"Given the imminence of the ward's death, further treatment (other than comfort care) for the ward's infection and other medical problems is unnecessary, unwarranted, inappropriate, and futile," he declared.

He also requested an "immediate hearing" to set the date for removal of Terri's feeding tube.

Judge Greer denied the motion Tuesday, stating such a determination would require a hearing, but endorsed Schiavo's request to return her to the hospice.

As WorldNetDaily reported, the Schindlers have been locked in a decade-long battle with their son-in-law over the care and custody of their daughter, who suffered massive brain damage when she collapsed at their home 13 years ago under unexplained circumstances at the age of 26.

The bitter dispute over Terri's quality of care erupted five years ago into a full-blown euthanasia battle when Schiavo petitioned the court for permission to have her feeding removed, claiming she is in a persistent vegetative state and would not want to be kept alive by "artificially." Although Terri breathes on her own and maintains her own blood pressure, she requires a tube for nourishment and hydration. The Schindlers and a number of doctors and therapists believe that with therapy she could be rehabilitated, but the courts have consistently sided with Schiavo and attorney George Felos.

This current emergency medical crisis was essentially a replay of events two weeks ago when Terri was taken to Morton Plant because she was coughing up blood and appeared to have aspiration pneumonia. She was returned to the hospice less than a week later, before she had fully recovered.

As before, the Schindlers have not been apprised their daughter's condition, despite a 1996 court order in which Schiavo agreed to inform the Schindlers of any changes in his wife's physical condition.

The Schindlers learned about Terri's emergency transfer from the hospice to the hospital Monday morning, hours after the fact. Not until their attorney Patricia Anderson received a fax from George Felos informing her of Terri's sudden crisis did they have any information.

Pamela Hennessey recalled last Monday's events for WorldNetDaily.

"As soon as they heard, her parents went immediately to the hospital and to the admissions section, and the first thing admissions said was there's no one here by that name," said Hennessey.

"Then they did confirm she was there, but did not tell them what room she was in, Hennessey continued. "So the Schindlers had to carry on for at least an hour before they found out where Terri even was. They never got any indication of her condition, diagnosis, prognosis, nothing. And they still haven't. All they know is Terri has a massive infection and fever."

Pat Anderson reports Mary Schindler has been with her daughter every day, all day until 8 p.m., when hospital rules dictate they must leave. Bob Schindler says she holds Terri in her arms, and when they started to leave, Terri's eyes fill with tears.

'Exit protocol'?

Terri's current medical crisis drew the attention of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who said he was "disturbed" by rumors about Schiavo's actions related to Terri's current care. In his letter to Greer Tuesday requesting a delay in removal of Terri's feeding tube until certain issues are investigated, Bush called specific attention to Schiavo's request to disallow treatment.

"It has come to my attention that Mrs. Schiavo has contracted a life-threatening illness and that she may be denied appropriate treatment," the governor wrote. "If true, this indicates a decision by her caregivers to initiate an 'exit protocol' that may include withholding treatment from Mrs. Schiavo until her death, which would render this court's ultimate decision moot."

Bush urged Greer to ensure that "no act of omission or commission be allowed to adversely affect Mrs. Schiavo's health before the September 11th hearing you have set. No one involved should be permitted to circumvent due process or the court's authority in order to achieve personal objectives in this case."

[pc93]

No sir. I respect your opinions.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Thank you for posting the Bishop's 'retraction'. The original acceptance of Terri's starvation was one of the scariest decisions I've seen on the part of the church.

WND is doing a good job of putting Terri's case up front where it belongs. They have a widespread international readership. They took THIS article and added a new headline and the new first paragraph, kept it on the front page:

 

MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH
Federal Court grants hearing in Schiavo case

Husband orders wife removed from hospital despite severe illness

---

Posted: August 30, 2003
11:05 p.m. Eastern

By Sarah Foster
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

A Federal District Court judge in Tampa has scheduled an emergency hearing in the case of Terri Schindler-Schiavo, a disabled woman whose husband has petitioned the courts to end her life by the removal of her feeding tube. The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, September 2, 2003 at the Federal Courthouse in Tampa.

 
 Terri Schindler-Schiavo
 before her disability.

Terri's family has posted background information and news about her situation on a website

Previous stories

Attorney: Jeb Bush letter only a 'good first step'

Gov. Bush's plea for Schindler-Schiavo rejected

Jeb Bush intervenes for Schindler-Schiavo

Schindler-Schiavo on 'death row'

Husband bars priest from brain-damaged wife

Brain-damaged woman hospitalized

Terri trying to talk

Petition drive launched for Terri Schiavo

Judge: Remove woman's feeding tube

****
Thank you all for working so hard to get the word out. Terri's in danger from now 'til Tues, imho. There are plenty of reasons for many involved in this case to not want any further investigation into how this could possibly have been allowed to happen in America, to be dragged on without the whole world knowing about it for years (PRESS cover-up!). This is a major scandal.

Prayers please.

[Don Joe]

Wow.

Get a load of this!

[Robert Drobot]

What comes round goes round. For her and her husband, I hope it's in spades.

[Robert Drobot]

Clearly, it's time for me to go to bed.

"What comes round goes round. For her and her husband, I hope it's in spades." should have been written:

What goes round comes round. For her and her husband, I hope it's in spades.

Good night or good morning wherever you are.........

[syriacus]

Thanks for the pings to the latest news and ideas about Terri.

I posted this thought on the other link, too.

I keep wondering what any eeg's, brain scans, say about her condition.

It seems fairly obvious that she isn't brain-dead.

Could severe depression, on top of the insult to her brain, be contributing to the way her responses are diminishing over time?

I know I'd be depressed if I were in her condition. Medication might help with that.

[palmer]

Maybe he was trying to get rid of her 13 years ago?

That has been the suspicion.

The jury awarding the money for her injuries determined that she was 70% responsible for her them (bulemia) and her doctor was 30% responsible.

[Theodore R.]

Are the bishops saying that removal of a feeding tube of a person who can breathe on his own is NOT euthanasia? What about the agony of starvation? Did not the bishops come to the defense of Bobby Sands, who starved himself to death in 1981 regarding Northern Ireland-British controversies?

[Theodore R.]

Why do you suppose Michael Schiavo has not yet suffocated the poor creature to death in that he often "visited" her and demanded that all the personnel of the nursing home or hospice leave while he was there?

[kimmie7]

Only Terri knows whether or not he's guilty. Oh Lord, what have we come to?

[kimmie7]

Only Terri knows whether or not he's guilty. Oh Lord, what have we come to?

should have been

guilty -- of spousal abuse.

The rest of his culpability is apparrant.

[Mo1]

"It is extremely troublesome to me that a Catholic woman, Terri Schiavo, would not be the first priority of the Florida bishops for the promotion of their belief that life is sacred," Hennessy wrote. "It is further troublesome that these same bishops have not vigorously defended the Pope's position on euthanasia and their own Catholic teachings on adultery. (Mr. Schiavo has fathered a child with his present girl friend, though he is still married to Terri.)"

As a Catholic women .. I have to agree with her .. their stance on this issue is baffling and they should taken a stronger stance

[hocndoc]

If you look at the videos on the parent's website, at the time those videos were taken (when the court had her examined, evidently), Terri Schiavo was not in a "persistent vegetative state."

[TheSpottedOwl]

"Looks like someone worked her over real good".

I'm hoping that Terri keeps holding on through the weekend. I also hope that there is an ambulance and state troopers standing by to get Terri out of that hospice the minute her death sentence is commuted.

[hocndoc]

http://www.terrisfight.org/lead.htm
Here's the website

[TheSpottedOwl]

I'm not too impressed with the Catholic Church's response to issues such as this one. Btw, I'm Catholic. I'm glad that the bishops have reversed their position.

That is the problem with defending yourself in court. It all boils down to whether or not you can afford to pay for justice to be done. If you have no money, you're finished. Patricia Anderson is a wonderful person for helping the Schindlers.

[floriduh voter]

Thanks RC. Jpegs and hyperlinks. You're a peach.

[floriduh voter]

There are posts regarding Schiavo being alone in the room with Terri. Afterwards, Terri appeared to be in insulin shock.

Going back to the beginning, part of Terri's condition is related to a potassium imbalance. Can a person be poisoned by potassium, say in their food or drink?

[Vets_Husband_and_Wife]

I guess unless you are a DOG or a TERRORIST you can't garner the attention of the Human rights organizations in America!! Rich huh?

This woman is BRAIN DAMAGED.. NOT BRAIN DEAD. This is the MOST inhumane thing I've ever witnessed in all my life in this country..and it goes un-noticed by any womans group, or advocacy group.

Her parents want to help her.. but her husband wants her dead so he can move on. With the help of an idiot judge.

SHE IS RESPONSIVE she watches balloons as they move past her and her eyes FOLLOW them. She reponds with smiles and sounds to her Moms voice. She is RESPONDING..and now she is going to slowly die of starvation and THIRST!!!

HUMANE.. huh??

[Ohioan from Florida]

I'm not a medical expert by any means, but I think a potassium imbalance can be caused by any number of things, from gastro-intestinal disorders to bulimia (which purportedly could be one of Terri's problems). Possibly on food or drink, but I think that might be a more unlikely scenario than having a stomach virus or something like that. Maybe someone in Terri's family could tell us more about her codition way back when, if that's what you're getting at.