New Guardian Urged for Terri Schiavo, More Evaluation of Her Condition Needed

LifeNews.com ^ | December 2, 2003 | Steven Ertelt

[nickcarraway]

Tallahassee, FL (LifeNews.com) -- An independent guardian appointed for Terri Schiavo told Governor Jeb Bush Tuesday that she deserves a permanent guardian other than her estranged husband Michael. He also claimed Terri is in a permanent vegetative state, but added that she should be re-evaluated by experts.

Under Terri's Law passed by the state legislature, an independent guardian was authorized to provide Governor Bush with recommendations about Terri's situation.

On October 31, Chief Pinellas-Pasco Chief Judge David Demers appointed Dr. Jay Wolfson, a professor of health and law at Stetson University in Florida, as Terri's guardian ad litem, despite the suggestion of bias from Terri's family.

Wolfson submitted a lengthy thirty-page report to Bush on Tuesday.

According to a source familiar with the report, Wolfson describes Terri as being in a persistent vegetative state. However, numerous doctors say otherwise and videos made by Terri's parents show her responding to doctors and her family.

Dr. William Hammesfahr, a neurologist from Clearwater, where Terri was hospitalized, is a recognized national expert on PVS and is a Nobel prize nominee. He says Terri's eyes clearly fixate on her family and she tries to follow the simple commands her parents give her.

"She looks at you, she can follow commands," Hammesfahr said.

Wolfson says Terri should be granted a permanent guardian other than Michael Schiavo. Among other concerns, Terri's family says has denied her appropriate medical and rehabilitative care he was obligated to provide from a medical malpractice award he received.

Wolfson also said medical experts should be brought in to evaluate Terri's cognitive function and her rehabilitative abilities.

Following the passage of Terri's Law, Wolfson told WFTS-TV in Tampa, Florida: "If this law stands the constitutional test of the courts, then it certainly implies the executive of our state has the prerogative of injecting the state into your life, or your family member's life."

Pat Anderson, the family's attorney, later told LifeNews.com that they met with Wolfson and were "very hopeful he can get his work done in the thirty days given to him."

Related web sites:

Terri's family - http://www.terrisfight.org

[pickyourpoison]

So this is about Jim King's legacy, no matter how many people die. He just wants his name in a history book.
You'd think he'd be ashamed to have his name connected to this.

[msmagoo]

Greer never met Terri Schiavo, he only reviewed what was presented to him.

[msmagoo]

King may have crafted the so-called right-to-die legislation, but Wise's bill would address feeding tube removal, which is not considered artificial life support in other states, and was not considered life support when Terri collapsed, nor when she made the alleged statement that she would not want to life "on tubes."

Therefore, I don't see why King would be up in arms about his "legacy" being dismantled. Better to have a loophole in his legacy closed than to be remembered as the statesman who made it the equivalent of a capital offense to be disabled and in need of a feeding tube.

[bvw]

Does anyone else get so infernally upset over that term "vegetative" state? No human is ever a vegetable -- not even those rare babies born without brain stems.

It is evil to combine the terms "vegetable" and human -- pre-emptive, vile, rude, despicable propaganda.

More biologically accurate, respectful and less emotionally and politically loaded terms should be used .. such as "non-responsive", "eeg activity absent", etc.

To suggest in any official capacity that a human is a vegetable or "vegetative", to me is ipso facto a slander, may be a violation of civil rights, and strongly suggests an unacceptable bias in any proceeding.

[daylate-dollarshort]

Non responsive.

Greer never testified for "HINO". Your response is irrelevant to the question.

[HiTech RedNeck]

HIS legacy. it's all about HIM, isn't it?

[pickyourpoison]

It's time we contacted Jim King and explain that if he doesn't correct this he'll be known as THE DEATH KING.

king.james.web@flsenate.gov

[msmagoo]

Sen. King did help get Terri's bill passed, so I commend him for his efforts on her behalf. I think the scenario painted by Larry Spalding, legislative counsel for the ACLU, "...of a physician tending to a patient in a vegetative state who has no written instructions. Even if all family members agreed withdrawal of treatment was what the patient wanted, the doctor is setting himself up for civil or criminal penalties if he abides [Spalding said]" is misleading.

According to Spaulding, the doctor "would have to say, `I'm sorry, we're going to have to continue to provide treatment whether he would have wanted it or not' which gives the impression that extraordinary measures would be forced on a patient even when the family is in agreement that the patient would refuse those measures if they were able to do so.

In fact, the proposed bill would apply to feeding tubes, which is simply an alternate means of food and water delivery. Patients on ventilators, respirators and other means of life support would not be affected by the change in law. I do not think most people's concept of "forced treatment" includes food and water.

Also, I think it's better to "err on the side of life" by assuming all incapacitated patients would prefer life over death (in the absence of a living will) than to presume the reverse; that without a living will specifying they would WANT a feeding tube, they would prefer to die.

The problem with creating a default where death is assumed to be the patient's preference in the absence of a document to the contrary, is that in American law, the value of life is presumed. The impetus for Living Wills began with premise that a person has the right to refuse treatment. I think it's very wrong to expand that to assume that all who do not have a living will automatically are presumed to want to refuse treatment.

This is completely against the practice of law and medicine, where great emphasis is placed on the value of life.

[msmagoo]

It may be unresponsive to your question, but it's true that Greer never met nor did he show any interest in meeting Terri Schiavo, whose life he deemed unworthy of living, based on hearsay evidence and conflicting contradictory testimony from the two-faced HINO.

At least Wolfson met her, on a daily basis, sometimes meeting her more than once a day. Don't you think anyone whose life is being ruled worthless deserves to meet the one who sits in judgement of their fate?

[Theodore R.]

These FL "Republicans" -- Greer, Baird, King -- show how destructive it can be to vote the straight Republican ticket in election after election, something I have long done.

[Theodore R.]

They had no children,

They were not even "married" for a full six years prior to Terri's collapse. There is more to the desire to see her killed than we have been told.

[Snykerz]

Guardian says deal in Schiavo case fell
through

By Patrick Kampert
Tribune staff reporter
Published December 3, 2003

On the eve of Terri Schiavo's 40th birthday, an independent guardian appointed at
the behest of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush revealed Tuesday that secret talks to hammer
out an agreement in the long-running dispute involving the brain-damaged woman broke down over the
weekend.

In his 38-page report to Bush, guardian Jay Wolfson, a University of South Florida professor and expert on
health-care finances, said his behind-the-scenes efforts had resulted in a "platform of understanding" that
Schiavo's husband and parents--and the governor--had tentatively agreed to before negotiations collapsed
Sunday.

Bob Schindler, Schiavo's father, said his son, Bob
Schindler Jr., had suggested the talks.

"Our objective has always been the same, to get her
some kind of treatment," the elder Schindler said as
he prepared for celebrations of his daughter's birthday
Wednesday at and away from the hospice in Pinellas
Park, Fla., where she has been since 2000.

The tentative agreement, arranged by Wolfson, called
for independent medical testing of Schiavo and a
private resolution to the matter.

But Schindler said George Felos, the lead attorney for
Schiavo's husband, Michael, backed out of the deal.

Michael Schiavo is his wife's legal guardian and says
his wife, who has been in a persistent vegetative state
since collapsing in 1990, would want to end her life. In October, a feeding tube that has sustained Terri Schiavo
was removed for six days before passage of a law that mandated reinsertion of the tube.

Felos did not return phone calls for comment.

He won a victory Tuesday when a Florida circuit court judge blocked Bush's lawyers from taking depositions
from Michael Schiavo and members of his family until a ruling is made on a motion for summary judgment in
the "Terri's Law" case.

In his report, Wolfson said he found no inconsistency in repeated court findings that Schiavo is in a persistent
vegetative state, adding there is "no likelihood of improvement."

Yet, he said, he visited her almost daily as he made his investigation and said Schiavo "has a distinct presence
about her."

He concluded that she should be allowed to have swallowing tests to see if she could take food and water
orally--even though Schiavo failed several such tests in the early 1990s--and asked to remain on the case until
its conclusion.

Attorneys for Michael Schiavo had a previous independent guardian removed in 1999 and have defeated
previous bids for new swallowing tests.

Bush said he was pleased Wolfson recommended the tests and the continuation of an independent
guardianship.

But he questioned the qualifications of the medical experts consulted by Wolfson and the thoroughness of the
Florida courts.

Wolfson acknowledged that his findings, based largely on the voluminous court proceedings of the decade-old
case, were limited because of the "narrowly constructed" marching orders he had been given by the court when
he was appointed at the end of October.

Schindler said his daughter has struggled to regain her health since a bout of pneumonia in September and the
days in October when the feeding tube was removed and she was without nutrition and hydration.

"If she didn't want to live," he said, "she could have thrown in the towel a long time ago."

Copyright © 2003, Chicago Tribune

[Theodore R.]

There is no negotiation possible with Schiavo-Felos-Greer-Baird. It is their way or no way, and that means Terri's eventual dehydration and starvation, all legal under FL "law." Baird has virtually said that he will strike down Terri's Law without a trial. Jim King of Jacksonville has turned against Terri. Forces of evil are very strong in the "progressive" Tampa-St.Petersburg area.

[Theodore R.]

Wolfson said "the evidence is incontrovertible that (Michael Schiavo) gave his heart and soul to (his wife's) treatment and care."

If Wolfson really believes that, how could anyone trust his "judgement" on anything?

[msmagoo]

"...Felos backed out of the deal."

And I can imagine what his grounds were: he was bound and determined to have Greer's ruling carried out, to have Terri starved and dehydrated to death, regardless of any results from swallowing tests. She could stand up and sing "God Bless America" for the FL Supreme Court...and Felos would still be flapping Greer's feeding tube removal order in her face.

[Snykerz]

Has anyone seen this yet?? Sorry if it has been posted:

Gov. Bush's executive order


Editor's note: This is the full text of the governor's statement and
executive order restoring Terri Schiavo's feeding tube. Schiavo,
a brain-damaged, comatose woman, is at the center of a long
battle between her parents, who have fought to keep her alive,
and her husband, who said she would rather die.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2003

Statement By: GOVERNOR JEB BUSH Regarding Theresa Schiavo

TALLAHASSEE- "Like the tens of thousands of Floridians who have raised their voices in
support of Terri Schiavo's right to live, I have been deeply moved by these tragic circumstances.
I understand the limitations cited by the judges who have declined to hear the later stages of this
case. However, any life or death decision should be made only after careful consideration of all
related facts and conditions. For that reason, I appreciate the extraordinary action of the
Legislature today, and will use the discretion they have granted regarding the restoration of
nutrition and water to Terri Schiavo.

"The conflict among family members over the best interests of this young woman has made us all
acutely aware that uncertainty in these situations can, and does, compound the tragedy. I hope
all Floridians, and any others who have followed this case, will ensure their best interests are
clearly documented in a living will or other directive to spare their families a similar anguish.

"My thoughts and prayers remain with Terri and those who love her."

# # #

STATE OF FLORIDA OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 03-201

WHEREAS, on October 21, 2003, the Florida Legislature passed House Bill 35-E (to be published
as Public Law 03-418), signed this date by me, authorizing the Governor to issue a one-time stay
in certain cases where, as of October 15, 2003, the action of withholding or withdrawing
nutrition or hydration from a patient in a permanent vegetative state has already occurred and
there is no written advance directive and a family member has challenged the withholding or
withdrawing of nutrition and hydration; and

WHEREAS, under House Bill 35-E a person may not be held civilly liable and is not subject to
regulatory or disciplinary sanctions for taking any action to comply with a stay issued by the
Governor pursuant to House Bill 35-E; and

WHEREAS, in the case of Theresa Marie Schindler Schiavo, Robert Schindler and Mary
Schindler, the parents of Theresa Marie Schindler Schiavo, have requested that the Governor
enter a stay prohibiting further withholding or withdrawing of nutrition or hydration; and

WHEREAS, a court has found that Theresa Schiavo is in a persistent vegetative state as of
October 15, 2003; and

WHEREAS, Theresa Schiavo had no written advance directive as of October 15, 2003; and

WHEREAS, nutrition and hydration have been withdrawn from Theresa Schiavo, and continues
to be withheld as of October 15, 2003; and

WHEREAS, the Schindlers have challenged the withdrawal and withholding of nutrition and
hydration as of October 15, 2003; and

WHEREAS, an immediate and urgent need has arisen to address the removal of nutrition or
hydration, because death due to lack of nutrition and hydration is imminent;

NOW THEREFORE, I, JEB BUSH, Governor of the State of Florida, by the powers vested in me by
the Constitution and laws of the State of Florida, specifically House Bill 35-E, do hereby
promulgate the following Executive Order, effective immediately:

Section 1.

A. Effective immediately, continued withholding of nutrition and hydration from Theresa Schiavo
is hereby stayed.

B. Effective immediately, all medical facilities and personnel providing medical care for Theresa
Schiavo, and all those acting in concert or participation with them, are hereby directed to
immediately provide nutrition and hydration to Theresa Schiavo by means of a gastronomy tube,
or by any other method determined appropriate in the reasonable judgment of a licensed
physician.

C. While this order is effective, no person shall interfere with the stay entered pursuant to this
order.

D. This order shall be binding on all persons having notice of its provisions.

E. This order shall be effective until such time as the Governor revokes it.

F. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement shall serve a copy of this Executive Order upon
the medical facility currently providing care for Theresa Schiavo.

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and have caused the Great Seal of the
State of Florida to be affixed this 21st day of October, 2003.

_______________________________________

GOVERNOR

ATTEST:

---

Who can over ride this decision? The courts?
E. This order shall be effective until such time as the Governor revokes it.

[msmagoo]

Wolfson attempted to win the trust of both sides. In order to do that, he tried to give both sides credit for having her best interests at heart. On a personal level, I cannot help but wonder if he found MS's determination to have his wife starved and dehydrated over her family's frantic protests, to be cold and callous. Surely a man with Wolfson's background knows a sociopath when he meets one. Is he unaware HINO melted down Terri's wedding rings to make jewelry for himself? It's in the record.

[shhrubbery!]

Doctors said Kate Adamson was in PVS too.

They tried to starve her to death too.

They were wrong.

[msmagoo]

The Executive Order can be revoked by the Governor, but if Terri's Law is found to be unconstitutional, E. would no longer carry the force of law.

[Theodore R.]

Could Wolfson have spoken all over the lot so he can stay on as GAL as long as possible? I don't know what he is paid, but he could have some financial interest in sticking around as the GAL. Plus he gets public attention and may gain demand as a lecturer in the future. In Terri's case, it's all about the money for nearly everyone but the Schindlers, Speaker Byrd, and Governor Bush.