Anyway, it's good old fashioned corruption!
Background
It is not clear what exactly caused Terri to collapse on February 25, 1990. What is clear is that the oxygen supply to her brain was cut off, leaving her permanently brain damaged. The most common theory is that, at the age of 26, Terri had a heart attack brought on by a low potassium level caused by an eating disorder. Another more recent theory suggests she may have suffered a serious neck injury.
Terri’s husband, Michael Schiavo, a respiratory therapist and nurse, recounted that he had awakened at 5 a.m. and saw Terri collapse to the floor. Her heart had stopped beating, and her brain was without oxygen for about five minutes. [St. Petersburg Times, 1/30/00]
Almost three years later, a jury awarded Terri approximately $700,000 for her on-going medical care in a malpractice suit filed by Michael against her doctor. The case rested on the fact that her gynecologist neglected to diagnose her low potassium level even after having her blood tested. The same jury also awarded $300,000 to Michael for loss of companionship. Ironically, during that trial Michael’s attorney, Glenn Woodworth, showed a video of Terri, and argued that, even though she was in a "vegetative state," "you can tell she has some sense of her predicament." He also pointed out to the jury that "[on the film] she knows her husband and looks into his eyes." [St. Petersburg Times, 11/12/92, 1/25/00]
But not long after the successful malpractice suit, Michael, Terri’s legal guardian, decided it was time to take her off life support and refuse antibiotics for infection. Since Terri was not on a ventilator or any other high-tech life support system, that meant withdrawing all her tube-provided food and fluids. The result: certain death by dehydration within one to two weeks. Terri’s parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, vehemently opposed Michael’s decision.
Michael & the Schindlers go to court
The battle over Terri’s care, or lack of it, ended up in the courtroom of Pinellas County Circuit Court Judge George Greer, who conducted a hearing in January 2000. Michael sought the court’s permission to stop Terri’s tube feeding, arguing that, prior to her brain damage, Terri had told him that she would not want to be kept on life support. Terri’s parents said that Michael never mentioned that Terri didn't want life support until after the malpractice settlement and that ,with further treatment, her condition could improve.Judge Greer appointed attorney Richard Pearse, Jr., to study the case and recommend a solution. Pearse’s report questioned Michael’s credibility, pointing out that he had stopped pursuing treatment for Terri only after the malpractice award. If Terri died, Pearse concluded, Michael would inherit the $700,000 and be legally free to marry a woman he‘d been engaged to for four years. If he divorced Terri, he would lose any claim to the $700,000. Michael’s attorney, George Felos, countered that Pearse was personally biased against the removal of feeding tubes and that the reason Michael had not filed for divorce was that he didn’t want the Schindlers to have the authority to keep Terri on life support. [St. Petersburg Times, 1/26/00]
On February 11, 2000, Judge Greer ruled that—in spite of the fact that Terri left no written evidence or advance directive indicating a wish to forego life support—Michael could order all food and fluids withheld from Terri starting on March 12. Greer later changed the target date until after the Schindlers had exhausted all appeals.
...
Question of abuse surfaces
During the hearing, one of the doctors testified that Terri had a "suspiciously rigid neck," and that the only other time he had seen this in a cardiac arrest patient was in a case of an attempted strangulation. This testimony prompted Pat Anderson, the Schindlers’ attorney, to reexamine Terri’s medical records. Among those records was a report on a total-body scan performed on Terri in 1991, 13 months after she collapsed. The scan showed that Terri had fractures of the first lumbar vertebra as well as several thoracic vertebrae, fractures of both sacroiliac joints and both knees and ankles, multiple rib fractures, and a compression fracture of her thigh. Doctors who reviewed the scan and the report concluded that she had a history of severe physical abuse. "Somebody worked her over real good," one physician said. Terri’s records also indicate that her progress in rehabilitation was hampered by "ossification" or "bone matter that forms around fractures," which indicates that the fractures were not fresh. [World Net Daily, 11/13/02; Tampa Tribune, 11/13/02; St. Petersburg Times, 11/13/02]
Judge Greer denied Anderson’s motion to allow discovery of this body-scan evidence during the hearing. His denial will be one of the issues before the Appellate Court. [www.terrisfight.org]
Michael’s attorney called Anderson’s motion "garbage," calling it "rife with unattributed hearsay, rank innuendo and libel." [World Net Daily, 11/14/02]
But during the January 2000 hearing, Terri’s friend and co-worker testified that she frequently saw bruises on Terri and that Terri had said they were from her husband "pinching her." The friend also said that Terri and Michael had had a violent argument on the day Terri collapsed and that she had tried to convince Terri not to stay home that night. Terri ignored her friend’s advice. [World Net Daily, 11/13/02]
What concerns Anderson and the Schindlers is the fact that, just prior to this latest hearing, Michael filed a petition requesting that the malpractice settlement money reserved for Terri’s care be used to pre-pay her cremation and burial costs. [World Net Daily, 11/1/02] Judge Greer granted the petition, a clear indication of his bias in this case. But, for the Schindlers, the request for a quick cremation coupled with the allegation of abuse "raises many doubts as to what really happened" the night Terri collapsed. [www.terrisfight.org]
And, as for the $700,000 awarded to Terri for her long-term care, it’s almost gone. That’s how Michael has paid for all the legal costs he’s incurred trying to end Terri’s life. [AP, 11/16/02; World Net Daily, 11/1/02; Ragged Edge Online, Issue 6, 2002]