DCF: Schiavo Not Abused Or Exploited

The Associated Press ^ | April 16, 2005

[kingattax]

TAMPA, Fla. -- State investigators found no evidence that Terri Schiavo had been abused or exploited by either side of her family, according to documents released by Florida's Department of Children and Families.

The agency investigated 89 complaints dating back to 2001, when Schiavo's feeding tube was removed for the first time and the legal battle surrounding her right-to-die case intensified.

The calls alleged that the brain-damaged woman was being mistreated by her husband and her parents for financial gain. One complaint alleged that Schiavo's parents were selling videos of her through a Web site; another said Schiavo's husband wasn't spending money intended for her rehabilitation.

But investigators said they found no evidence that either her husband or parents were exploiting her, and often noted in their records that they found Schiavo well cared for on their visits to her Pinellas Park hospice.

The agency released the records Friday under court order.

Schiavo, 41, died last month after her feeding tube was removed for the third time, ending a bitter court battle between her husband, Michael Schiavo, and parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, over whether she would have wanted to live in a vegetative state.

The repeated allegations of abuse were based partly on bone scans showing Terri Schiavo suffered fractures and statements she made to family and friends that she was unhappy in her marriage.

Schiavo's husband has denied harming his wife. His lawyer said the fractures resulted from osteoporosis caused by the woman's years of immobility and complications of her medication.

Robert Schindler declined to comment there on the release of the DCF documents. An attorney for Michael Schiavo did not immediately return calls

[Earthdweller]

There is no one God enough to decide if Terri's life was worth living or not. Not you, her husband, doctors or the lawyers.

She was not terminal..a decision that is made by the Almightly himself.

She was "terminated" by our laws.

[Peach]

Then you need to make it perfectly clear that even if you have no brain activity, you wish to be kept alive by tubes forever.

[queenkathy]

I agree. Her heart was just beating irregularly and had quite a spell. We were unaware at the time, these facts came out later..It's been about 10 yrs now. But my cousin, that one made us really upset. When our mom had lung cancer, we fought the hospital SO hard. They wanted us to remove everything, we said no...Caused QUITE a stink. My cousins watched that and determined they didn't want their family to go through that. They heard all their like that their mother didn't want to be kept alive with machines. They think feeding tubes are machines. My dad had a pace maker and that's all she needed. But she was 85 and her husband was gone and the kids thought she'd be "better off" with him in heaven. Sound familiar?

[Earthdweller]

She had brain activity and I believe the disabled community have a much better understanding of that then you.

[Peach]

Terri was terminated in 1990 when she was determined to have no brain activity. A feeding tube kept her alive. That is not how most people wish to be kept alive when they have no cognitive ability.

If you wish differently, you need to tell your family that you want to be kept alive, even though you won't know it, for as long as possible by any means possible. Put it in writing and your wishes will be adhered to.

[DustyMoment]

Why don't you read the testimony of the radiologist about her "broken bones":

Actually, that radiologist confirmed everything I said in my post #51. according to the deposition you posted.

You might want to go back and re-read the entire deposition. Dr. Campbell confirmed the presence of each of the injuries I mentioned, but attorney Anderson focused on the skull fracture, the broken back and the broken femur.

Also, when you read what Dr. Campbell testifies to, he doesn't say that the injuries were the result of trauma. What he says is that he assumed that they were the result of trauma because the referring physician was a trauma rehab Dr. and, as a result, he assumed the injuries were the result of a trauma.

[Fam4Bush]

"The ONLY reason this has become such a large issue is because the parents and husband disagreed in this matter."

Ya know, I personally think that the "husband's" appeal to "right to privacy" is the ONLY factor we need to consider in understanding how and why this case has become so difficult. Were we all on the same page with all the facts laid out squarely before us, it still boils down to the controversy of euthenasia... it appears you have asserted approval...

[Peach]

She most certainly did not have brain activity.

She has had multiple EEGs, the latest in 2002, and all were consistent with PVS - the report stated "no recognizable cerebral activity" even upon inducing painful stimuli.

Patients who show no signs of consciousness after their eyes open usually fit the criteria for the vegetative state(VS). Persistent vegetative state (PVS) is a prognostic term that refers to a chronic condition in which basic arousal (i.e., wakefulness) and life-sustaining functions (e.g., respiration, blood pressure) are generally intact, despite the absence of behavioral signs of meaningful interaction with the environment. The American Academy of Neurology recently adopted the position that the VS should be termed "persistent" at 1 month, and considered "permanent" after 3 months following non traumatic causes of unconsciousness and after 12 months following traumatic injury [27]. However, rare exceptions to this have been cited. Merck
The longest documented is 3 years.

[conservlib]

but I can't pick up a gun and go to Africa personally

My dear friend, we have a Christian born again type President. We have the biggest power in the world. Sudan is a small worthless little FOURTH-world country. We rained hell on a much bigger country SERBIA, on their Easter Sunday because they messed around with a few Muslim terrorists. Sudan Muslim government mows down innocent Christian villages and enslaved millions. Put all that together, and you do need to take a gun a go to Sudan, you need to get angry, and tell your President that you are angry because he is not using our military to defend the defenseless, who are victims to the aggression of our MORTAL enemies, the Muslim fanatics.

[queenkathy]

How was she determined to have no brain activity? Source please. BEcause that's new to me

[Freedom Dignity n Honor]

Whether she was bulemic or not is an open question. She might have been, she might not have been.

The only claim I've seen that she was bulemic was that she drank about 15 glasses of tea a day. It really didn't address how much she ate and what she ate.

There is proof though that she didn't have heart problems as a result of anything. She didn't have the enzymes that would indicate a heart attack. She didn't have heart damage. That was proven in 1990 by the medical teams taking care of her in the hospital using standard tests.

[Saundra Duffy]

A tomato cannot smile at her mother.

[MHGinTN]

Surely you do not take seriously the assertions of a 'doctor' who states Terri had no brain activity, then in the next two sentences states that PVS will show some brain activity, then that Terri was in PVS and he was certain of it? You're becoming a jokester with your flippy-floppy style of bait and switch. Take a look at the videos of Terri during the therapy period ... you can't trust your lyin' eyes so you choose to dismiss any doctor or any testimony that would awaken your senses ... and after reading Hammesfahr's diagnosis affidavit (he spent nearly eleven hours with Terri, as opposed to 45 minutes by the 'doctor' Greer chose to allow as THE expert), I was struck by how much more thorough he had been than the euthanasia expert Greer selected at Felos's instruction.

[Fam4Bush]

"Terri was terminated in 1990 when she was determined to have no brain activity."


Haven't seen a copy of the EEG for this...want to post it?

[queenkathy]

Ok I have this question for any Dr's out there...If you have no brain activity, then you are, by all accounts DEAD...Right? Is there ANY chance that could change? And what tests would they do to determine that?

Because I thought that Kate Adamson had a test and that came back that way...Am I wrong here?

[Peach]

Without going back to read your post on a previous page, I believe you testified that Terri had broken ankles, etc.

What Terri had were fractures in two places. One was from CPR, they think. One was from when she fell when she went into cardiac arrest.

The other places were hot spots. I had a bone scan done about years ago. I have loads of hot spots.

I have never had a broken bone and never been in a car accident. There is no explanation.

And in bulimics, who lose up to 30% of their bone mass, it's not uncommon at all.

[queenkathy]

Hey, I'm on Terri's side here. I know that...

[ColoCdn]

"She has had multiple EEGs, the latest in 2002, and all were consistent with PVS - the report stated "no recognizable cerebral activity" even upon inducing painful stimuli."

Was this admitted into evidence at the original trial (not)or do you just add this little piece because it's convenient for your argument? You're admonishing FReepers because they supposedly should only regard the 'facts of the case' as they are entered in to the record.

Was this entered in to the record for determination of action by the Greer Reaper?

[Earthdweller]

Here's another "Veggie" for ya ....dude....you would have a field day pronouncing death on people in limited cognitive ability.

Would you like to see others that you and your doctor friends can send to "h@ll" by your own hands?There must be thousands of them that 50% of MDs could call "veggies".

Forget Me Not

Our problems are many & varied, our struggles are always uphill... I'm speaking for hundreds of children, so listen awhile if you will...

I want understanding- not pity, I wish you could treat me the same...

You wouldn't ignore the other children, at least you would ask them their name...

I know I can't answer to tell you, my face may seem empty & dead.... My body is twisted- but I AM alive, and there ARE thoughts in my head...

I will not be shut out from the world, I am a child & it is my right....

I'm not an object of pity- to be hidden away out of sight....

My parents see me through eyes of love, and not as others do.... They see the things I can achieve & I wish that you would too.......

As I ask you to Forget-Me-Not, I beg you to hear my plea...

If I could speak I would ask you.... to please look closer & see me.

Author/source unknown Here's another one..if the parents had listened to you and their doctors she would be a mummy right now.

Heather was born in October 1986. She wasn't due until November. However a ultrasound showed there was no amniotic fluid and a emergency c section was done. As soon as the cord was cut there was lung shock and affixation. She was given CPR for the first 15 minutes of her life. She was given a 25% chance of survival. I knew in my heart that since she was born alive she would make it. We were never told that there would be any chance of disabilities. At six months she started having seizures (infantile spasms).

Our pediatrician laughed at me and said they were seizures and scheduled a EEG for two weeks. Needless to say we weren't happy with him and found another Dr within an hour and she was admitted into the hospital within two hours from that.

We were real lucky with the medications. They put her on Phenobarbital and the seizures were under control within a week. They said she would be on the meds until she was at least 3, probably 5. She was off them within 18 months and has been seizure free since.

Again, there was no mention of any disabilities.

At 7 mths a visiting nurse recommended therapy because she was not doing age appropriate things. Than a friend asked if she had cp. I said I think someone would have mentioned it, but I'll ask. At therapy I asked and was told she had too much muscle tone and that was it. At the next appointment we had to see a CCS doctor.

As soon as I walked in the door she said, "Oh, your daughter does have Cerebral Palsy, always has and always will, she will never walk, she will be severally retarded and she will sit in a wheelchair and drool, now this is how I want you to stretch her legs". Needless to say I was in shock.

After I left I called her Pediatrician and asked what this woman was talking about. We went in and all was finally explained to us.

Her diagnoses is Spastic Quad, visually impaired (legally blind), developmentally delayed and seizure disorder. I then went out to get as much information as possible and continue to do so to this day. She had a Selective dorsal Rhizotomy at age 3 and has has 3 hip surgeries for a dislocated right hip.

With the help of a very supportive family and an awful lot of determination Heather has and continues to defy the doctors, therapist and medical profession in general with her abilities and her progress.

[Peach]

If you think that people who pull the tube and other life saving equipment from their loved ones in hospitals all over the country are engaging in something you don't think should happen, work with your legislators to change the laws.

And be sure to tell your loved ones that you wish to be kept alive through artificial means, even if you have no cognitive ability, for an indefinite period of time. Make sure your wishes are well known, preferably in writing, and the hospital and ultimate nursing home will be happy to keep collecting money and keep you alive.