What really happened to Terri
Terri's medical problems were probably induced by her husband's beatings.
Terri had excellent chances for recovery, but those chances faded over time. Terri's husband, about 16 years ago, sued doctors for about $20 million US, and was granted around $2.5 million, which he pledged would be used to help Terri recover. Mr. Schiavo also said he would attend medical school so he could better care for Terri. During this time, Mr. Schiavo lived in the Schindler (Terri's parents) household, at the Schindler's expense.
Three months after winning his $2.5 million in courts, Mr. Schiavo announced that he would not fund therapy for his wife, would not attend medical school, and would place a do-not-resuscitate order on his wife. In addition, he forbid all medical care. Her teeth have not been brushed for years, for example. Mr. Schiavo moved Terri out of several hospitals because doctors gave Terri antibiotics when she became infected.
Additionally, x-rays have indicated that Terri has many broken bones that were previously unknown, and it is believed that those breaks were caused by the husband. The husband refused to allow doctors to do further tests or operate, and even refuses pet-scans of her corpse. Mr. Schiavo insisted on cremating Terri until very recently, which was against her wishes as a devout catholic, but the autopsy that he allowed is only to examine her brain and confirm that she was brain damaged. The autopsy cannot determine if she was actually in a vegetative state; that could only be tested when she was alive, and Mr. Schiavo refused such tests.
Terri could have been subjected to swallowing tests, which would establish that she does not require life support and thus cannot be starved to death if she passed, but such tests were also refused because 'if she choked on the food, she could die'. Rather than let Terri die quickly by choking, her husband starved her to death over nearly two weeks. Terri was put on painkillers during her starvation, even though, according to Mr. Schiavo and his lawyer, Terri could not feel pain.
Mr. Schiavo's claim that Terri would have wanted to die was based on a single comment while watching television. A comment that Terri would prefer to live was made to one of Terri's friends with just as much credibility, but judge Greer (the judge who presided over the Terri case for years) accepted Mr. Schiavo's claim as a fact of the case and rejected the pro-life claim. Once something is established as a fact in a case, no court could overturn that 'fact', they can only review how the fact is used in the case. Thus, appeals were futile because they didn't have the ability to restart the case from the beginning, and had to use Greer's 'facts', in which case they had no choice but to rule against Terri. The Congressional legislation was made with an intention of allowing an appeals court to dismiss Greer's facts and establish new ones, if necessary. Greer ignored a congressional subpoena, and may be charged with contempt for doing so, which means he could end up in jail (and impeached). The judicial branch of government was made the weakest in the constitution because it is often nearly impossible to remove bad judges; Greer just claimed that he is superior to the US senate by refusing to observe it's legislation.
Because of Greer's actions, this issue will probably last for several years. Many in the US already worry that judges are becoming too powerful, and are effectively passing legislation themselves through the use of legal precedent; Greer confirmed those suspicions.
I would not be surprised if Greer is impeached, even though the case would be based on the congressional subpoena, and few judges are ever impeached. If some of the stuff I told you about Mr. Schiavo is reported by the US mainstream news, few congressmen will want to support Greer, and he will be convicted. Just to clarify, impeachment is the trial of an official; an official can be impeached but not convicted. Clinton is the best-known example.
Terri had excellent chances for recovery, but those chances faded over time. Terri's husband, about 16 years ago, sued doctors for about $20 million US, and was granted around $2.5 million, which he pledged would be used to help Terri recover. Mr. Schiavo also said he would attend medical school so he could better care for Terri. During this time, Mr. Schiavo lived in the Schindler (Terri's parents) household, at the Schindler's expense.
Three months after winning his $2.5 million in courts, Mr. Schiavo announced that he would not fund therapy for his wife, would not attend medical school, and would place a do-not-resuscitate order on his wife. In addition, he forbid all medical care. Her teeth have not been brushed for years, for example. Mr. Schiavo moved Terri out of several hospitals because doctors gave Terri antibiotics when she became infected.
Additionally, x-rays have indicated that Terri has many broken bones that were previously unknown, and it is believed that those breaks were caused by the husband. The husband refused to allow doctors to do further tests or operate, and even refuses pet-scans of her corpse. Mr. Schiavo insisted on cremating Terri until very recently, which was against her wishes as a devout catholic, but the autopsy that he allowed is only to examine her brain and confirm that she was brain damaged. The autopsy cannot determine if she was actually in a vegetative state; that could only be tested when she was alive, and Mr. Schiavo refused such tests.
Terri could have been subjected to swallowing tests, which would establish that she does not require life support and thus cannot be starved to death if she passed, but such tests were also refused because 'if she choked on the food, she could die'. Rather than let Terri die quickly by choking, her husband starved her to death over nearly two weeks. Terri was put on painkillers during her starvation, even though, according to Mr. Schiavo and his lawyer, Terri could not feel pain.
Mr. Schiavo's claim that Terri would have wanted to die was based on a single comment while watching television. A comment that Terri would prefer to live was made to one of Terri's friends with just as much credibility, but judge Greer (the judge who presided over the Terri case for years) accepted Mr. Schiavo's claim as a fact of the case and rejected the pro-life claim. Once something is established as a fact in a case, no court could overturn that 'fact', they can only review how the fact is used in the case. Thus, appeals were futile because they didn't have the ability to restart the case from the beginning, and had to use Greer's 'facts', in which case they had no choice but to rule against Terri. The Congressional legislation was made with an intention of allowing an appeals court to dismiss Greer's facts and establish new ones, if necessary. Greer ignored a congressional subpoena, and may be charged with contempt for doing so, which means he could end up in jail (and impeached). The judicial branch of government was made the weakest in the constitution because it is often nearly impossible to remove bad judges; Greer just claimed that he is superior to the US senate by refusing to observe it's legislation.
Because of Greer's actions, this issue will probably last for several years. Many in the US already worry that judges are becoming too powerful, and are effectively passing legislation themselves through the use of legal precedent; Greer confirmed those suspicions.
I would not be surprised if Greer is impeached, even though the case would be based on the congressional subpoena, and few judges are ever impeached. If some of the stuff I told you about Mr. Schiavo is reported by the US mainstream news, few congressmen will want to support Greer, and he will be convicted. Just to clarify, impeachment is the trial of an official; an official can be impeached but not convicted. Clinton is the best-known example.
posted by Chris at
3:11 PM
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