Posted on 03/23/2005 7:21:50 PM PST by Zivasmate
Terri's Last Chance It's time to try giving Terri Schiavo orally administered liquids. by William Anderson 03/23/2005 12:45:00 PM
THE CHIPS ARE DOWN. We have had a surfeit of due process. It is now well past time to consider the facts which process has willfully ignored. There is no reason, medical, moral, or legal, to refrain from an attempt to provide Terri Schiavo with orally administered liquids.
There are only two possible explanations for having employed gastric tube feeding. Either (1) her neurologic damage has brought about a swallowing dysfunction with danger of aspiration pneumonia; or (2) it was simply a matter of convenience to avoid labor intensive hand feeding.
In either case, no medical reason now exists to refuse a trial of natural drinking. She may have impaired swallowing function, but that at its worst cannot be as bad as death by dehydration.
Allowing her to drink water would be the definitive test of swallowing function. She may be able to swallow water and other clear liquids, in which case she will avoid death by dehydration, even if she later succumbs to malnutrition. Or she may be able to swallow pureed food, which will avoid death by malnutrition. Or she may not be able to swallow water without aspiration into the lungs, and so would develop pneumonia, and have a quicker and more peaceful death.
As to legal concerns, a guardian may refuse any medical treatment, but drinking water is not such a procedure. It is not within the power of a guardian to withhold it, and not in the power of a rational court to prohibit it.
The moral case speaks for itself. When we awaken from this queasy nightmare, people will ask how it could have been that a court could post a police officer by the bedside to insure that a dying woman succumbed to a ghastly death by thirst.
William Anderson is a lecturer at Harvard University and Senior Psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital.
I agree TOTALLY! As a speech-language pathologist whose national association generally is very vocal in advocating for people with disability, I'm irritated that they don't have a voice at this moment. I don't know if this is because they agree with the treatment (and I use that term very loosely) that Ms. Schiavo is receiving OR if the media is choosing not to cover their stance.
In my experience, many people who have feeding tubes are successful in taking oral intake at least to supplement the nutrition/hydration given via the tube. I've not seen any report which documents that a comprehensive swallowing evaluation revealed that Ms. Schiavo is unable to swallow. In fact, the reality that she has survived this long, apparently without major respiratory complications, suggests that she IS able to effectively swallow her own secretions, and probably material which refluxes from her stomach.
It's time for a cry for a court order mandating that such an assessment take place. From a medical system that is bound by the principles of beneficience, non-malefesence and justice, Terri Schiavo deserves this chance.
I think she's being prevented legally by Greer from even ingesting water.
They are serving and protecting......the bad guys.
In all fairness, I realize that they are following orders. If I were in their shoes, I imagine calling one of the nurses and encouraging them to insert and IV whilst I look the other way.
Terri would certainly remain alive on my shift.
Kevorkian must be enjoying this...judges forcing on people what he got convicted of doing.
If she was a whale or a seal the other side would be on the beaches to push her back in to save her life. Human beings are so unimportant nowadays that we must fight for any dignity.
The Judge order they could not give her fluids orally, no communion, no brushing her teeth or washing her lips - she may get water that way.
EWWW _ This is the first picture I've seen of this creep. Boy, sometimes we really get the face we deserve, don't we? And the black robe of course completes the picture.
I agree. What is scaring me is that there are so many presumably normal citizens ,judges,nurses,policemen, yet they all stand by silent witnesses to the execution of this innocent helpless woman.
When they killed Nancy Cruzan like this, there were protestors trying to break in and give her water and lots of police to stop that from happening.
I can not believe that there is not a two step test here. For the sake of argument, say Terri said she would not want to live like this. Ok, agreed. 2nd test: Has the patient ever made it known that she not only would not want to live like this but that she also made it known that she would want to STARVE to death. I have heard many people say they would "not want to live like that" followed by "put a bullet in my head" or "put a pillow over my head" etc. - the point being "quick & painless (at least
compared to starving to death over a period of several weeks). How does anyone make the case that "she would not want to live like this" therefore "I want to starve to death". Are they not mutually exclusive arguments/statements ????????
I'm not an attorney but I have done labor arbitrations etc., and I know this is what I would ask of anyone bringing this case to me
regardless of the other issues. Stipulate the "don't want to live" but where is the evidence that "I want to die like this". If you agree
that there is a point here please get it out there - this woman does not have adequate representation. And NO, I'm not saying the inverse here - just trying to find a legal point to stop this murder. Keep the faith,
Don't forget euphoric!
Wasn't she gorgeous? Of course she had esteem problems. Everyone has esteem problems. You can't walk a millimeter anywhere without being assaulted by imagery telling you you're not beautiful/rich/skinny/glamorous enough. I think this is a big part of why some want to kill her. She isn't cute anymore.
That's right, her mother can't even put an ice cube in her mouth.
THANK YOU!! My former best friend is a speech pathologist, but we don't communicate anymore (my decision) so I have no idea what she thinks about this. But thanks for sharing your opinion.
Michael Schiavo's former girlfriend speaks: Excerpts From Cynthia Shook's May 8, 2001 Deposition given in fear.
A case for Criminal Investigation of Michael Schiavo.
Terri's passing will not set Michael Schiavo free. Schiavo, I strongly suspect and hope, will have some tough days ahead legally. Scott Peterson, tidy up your cell, you might have company!
michael won't allow mouth feeding...why? Maybe because you couldn't get a court sanction - even from a ghoul judge - to simple starve someone to death - you need the "illusion' that the feeding tube is keeping her alive...
I wonder if they could get permission to stabilize her and then at least try to mouth feed.
michael and the judge have forbidden anyone to try, for years, to feed her by mouth, not even to TEST it. How outrageous is that!
I hope real Justice is done here - I hope she is rescued and and a real investigation is done.
If a criminal investigation is done - it likely wont come under Greer - Hopefully, rotation would fall on a judge with a notion of right and wrong
The question again is why? I know it's hard but put yourself in the shoes of someone who supports what Greer decided? What is your motive? Where is your decency? You wouldn't do this to a hardened criminal. If you err with an innocent, and especially helpless person, you err on the side of life, don't you? Aren't we all better off with her sustaining life, despite her unfortunate state? Who are we to say she finds life miserable? She may derive some worthwhile sensory pleasures out of the most mundane things that you and I take for granted. We just don't know. So, why torture this poor woman to death in an unprecented act of cruelty, in my view?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.