Posted on 08/29/2003 10:41:03 PM PDT by 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."
The man's been all over the TV pushing "right-to-kill" as compassion. He obviously has friends in high places and an agenda shared by MANY others. If you have strong stomachs, and a stronger team of faith partners, you might want to check out some of the other "New Age" major medical clinics / foundations. Doctors playing 'god' all over the place today.
Sorry, but no one - lawyer, minister, celebrity, human being - could do this to Terri and claim to be acting in a 'compassionate' or 'Godly' manner!
CASE NO: 8:03-cv-1860-T-26TGW
ROBERT SCHINDLER and
MARY SCHINDLER, as parents and
next friends of Theresa Marie Schindler
Schiavo, an incapacitated ward,
Plaintiffs,
v.
MICHAEL SCHIAVO, individually
and in his capacity as Guardian of the person
of THERESA MARIE SCHINDLER
SCHIAVO, an incapacitated ward; THE
HOSPICE OF THE FLORIDA SUNCOAST,
INC., AND MORTON PLANT HOSPITAL
ASSOCIATION, INC.,
Defendants.
…
From the affidavits filed:
29. Non-party co-conspirator Felos styles himself a pioneer in the "Death With Dignity" legal movement and is the author of Litigation as Spiritual Practice, published by the Blue Dolphin Publishing Co., Inc., of Nevada City, California, in 2002. This book promotes the defendant lawyer's trailblazing efforts in the pro-euthanasia field in America. He is at this time promoting his next book, which is to be about the related case in the Florida District Court of Appeal and Florida Sixth Judicial Circuit Court and which related case Mr. Felos evidently expects to end in the death of Theresa Marie Schiavo in the very near future.
30. Mr. Felos' book, Litigation as Spiritual Practice, contains numerous bizarre anecdotes about his ardent desire to end the administration of food and water to severely disabled or gravely sick patients.
31. On page 63, referring to his landmark Florida state court case, Estate of Browning, Felos writes: "Such a deep, dark, silent blue. I stared as far into her eyes as I could, hoping to sense some glimmer of understanding, some hint of awareness. The deeper I dove, the darker became the blue, until the blue became the black of some bottomless lake. 'Mrs. Browning, do you want to die?...Do you want to die?' - I near shouted as I continued to peer into her pools of strikingly beautiful but incognizant blue. It felt so eerie."
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32. On page 73, Attorney Felos writes: "As I continued to stay beside Mrs. Browning at her nursing home bed, I felt my mind relax and my weight sink into the ground. I began to feel light-headed as I became more reposed. Although feeling like I could drift into sleep, I also experienced a sense of heightened awareness. As Mrs. Browning lay motionless before my gaze, I suddenly heard a loud, deep moan and scream and wondered if the nursing home personnel heard it....In the next moment, as this cry of pain and torment continued, I realized it was Mrs. Browning. I felt the mid-section of my body open and noticed a strange quality to the light in the room. I sensed her soul in agony. As she screamed I heard her say, in confusion, 'Why am I still here... why am I here?' My soul touched hers and in some way I communicated that she was still locked to her body. I promised I would do everything in my power to gain the release her soul cried for. with that the screaming immediately stopped. I felt like I was back in my head again."
33. On page 75, Felos says: "Before our son was conceived, my then wife and I went through a long and arduous process trying to decide if we should have a child. Given that our marriage was never very stable, the familiar arguments against creating progeny seemed at times hard to overcome....One morning, while still generally engaged in that process, I walked into my office, and about half way to my desk was hammer- struck. While almost seeing stars like a comic book character, I heard the soul of my yet- to-be-conceived child emphatically shout: I'm ready to be born... will you stop this fooling around!'...The voice I heard was distinctly male, and I beamed with the idea I had a son - or was going to have a son - or sorta had a son out there - or something like that."
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34. On page 216, again discussing Estate of Browning, Mr. Felos writes about the late Estelle M. Browning: "As I always did, I looked into her eyes and shouted to her, hoping for some response or sign. After a minute or two I sat in the chair by the foot of her bed, closed my eyes, and started to meditate. Having 'soulspoken' with Mrs. Browning when we first met, I decided, with a measure of earnest self-inflation, to purposefully initiate such contact. I settled into my breath and noticed all the passing sounds move through my consciousness. As I deepened my relaxation, I reached out with my awareness to see if I could touch her soul-presence. From deep inside I repeated, 'Mrs. Browning, it's okay to leave your body. There is no reason to stay in this body. It is all right to die now.' A few minutes into my meditative encouragement, I was jarred by a high-pitched sarcastic cackle and the words, 'You're telling me to drop my body - and you can't even get out of your head.' Apparently, Mrs. Browning had a spirited sense of humor!"
35. On pages 181-182 of his book, Felos claims that merely by visualizing a plane crash during a flight he was taking back to Florida, he caused the plane to begin to crash and that God spoke to him at that moment to warn him: "Be careful what you think. You are more powerful than you realize'.....I was startled, humbled, and blessed by God's admonishment."
36. Co-conspirator Felos clearly is not simply an advocate for Michael Schiavo in the Florida state courts; he is an investor in Mrs. Schiavo's case who stands to profit financially via her judicially-sanctioned death and the book he told the St. Petersburg Times he wants to write about the case and his "spiritual journey" with Theresa Schiavo. As his first work, Litigation as Spiritual Practice, indicates, Mr. Felos is an egomaniacal
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visionary who views Terri's hoped-for death as a fulfillment of his personal messianic mission as the savior of severely disabled and seriously ill people who need to die. He is a protagonist in a drama in which he sees himself as a lead character.
Regarding Michael’s 180 flip to seek Terri’s starvation execution, the following is offered in the same documentations of the above case:
37. In connection with the proceeding, Schiavo announced his recollection that sometime in the mid-1980s, Terri informally remarked, with reference to her grandmother's ultimately terminal illness, that in the event of her own serious illness, she did not want to be maintained "on anything artificial". Defendant Schiavo alleged a recollection of other generalized remarks to that effect.
38. Defendant Schiavo's position that his wife would not want to live by means of food and hydration administered through a G tube was completely contrary to his testimony before the medical malpractice case jury.
39. At the time of Terri's alleged remarks in the mid-1980s, Florida law did not include food and hydration among the forms of medical care that could be terminated based on the alleged prior directives of a patient, and deprivation of food and hydration would have constituted the crime of euthanasia under Florida law at the time Terri allegedly made her comment to defendant Schiavo about "anything" (or "nothing") artificial". It was not until October 1, 1999 that the law was amended to include food and hydration given via a G tube.
40. Terri's alleged remarks about "anything artificial" said nothing about the withdrawal of food, hydration, and rehabilitative therapy.
41. Under Felos' guidance, there were about five years of legal proceedings in the Florida state courts, during most of which Terri was not represented by a guardian ad litem.
Do you know that he lived on an island and ate fish he caught and drank goat's milk? I think during his time on the island, HE GOT TOO MUCH SUN and it fried his brain.
Felos seems to see himself as a guru. I'm forever curious in why Judge Greer is consistently siding with husband and Attorney Felos.
Maybe when Felos was a State Attorney, he found out something about Judge Greer that remains a secret and wouldn't that be powerful leverage?
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