It's been exactly one month since Robert and Mary Schindler last saw their daughter, Terri, the brain-disabled woman whose right to live is at the center of a major euthanasia battle being fought in the Florida courts between her estranged husband, who wants to remove her feeding tube so she will die of starvation, and her parents who are doing everything they can to prevent that from happening.

Since then, the only news the Schindlers have received about their daughter's medical condition is that in the week following Easter, an unnamed oral surgeon examined Terri's mouth and extracted five of her back teeth because of their discoloration. Her remaining teeth were scraped and said to appear healthy.

Word of the impromptu tooth-removal was faxed April 20 to the Schindlers' attorneys by Deborah Bushnell, who represents Michael Schiavo – Terri's estranged husband and legal guardian – in an ongoing legal battle with his parents-in-law. According to Bushnell, the oral surgeon attributed the deterioration of Terri's teeth to "non-use over the years" and advocated their removal "to avoid problems."

That the incapacitated woman, who cannot speak though she tries to, endured oral surgery all alone without her parents present to comfort and reassure her came as a shock to her family and friends.

"It's simply unbelievable," said Pamela Hennessey, volunteer spokesperson for the Schindler family. "They've extracted five teeth from her head without much explanation and no notification."

"It's really just par for the course; it's how this woman has been treated from the beginning," she said. "There's nothing fair in anything that's happened to Terri from the time she collapsed. Nothing."

As WorldNetDaily reported, Terri collapsed under unexplained circumstances in February 1990 at the age of 26. Oxygen to her brain was cut off for several minutes, leaving her severely brain-disabled and dependant upon a feeding tube for sustenance.

Schiavo insists his wife told him at some point that she would never want to be kept alive "through artificial means," and four years ago he convinced probate Judge George Greer to allow him to remove her feeding tube. Her parents do not believe Terri made the statements attributed to her, and through a series of legal maneuvers have managed to keep the case and their daughter alive. Their options appeared to have run out last year when the 2nd District Court of Appeal made a final ruling in Schiavo's favor and the Florida Supreme Court refused to hear the case.

In October, Terri endured six days without nourishment and hydration before Florida lawmakers passed "Terri's Law" that allowed Gov. Jeb Bush to intervene and order her feeding tube reinserted, an action immediately challenged by Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, a well-known "right-to-die" advocate. That case is being litigated. If the appeal court strikes down Terri's law as unconstitutional, her feeding tube could be removed again.

The lengthy legal battle between the Schindlers and their son-in-law entered a new phase in the late afternoon of March 29, when a nursing assistant discovered what appeared to be "needle marks" on Terri's arm and the police were notified.

Without informing the Schindlers, Felos sent a statement to the media that came just short of accusing them of sticking needles in Terri either to inject something or withdraw "fluids" from her body. The marks had been spotted by an aide "immediately after a 45-minute visit from her parents" and Terri was in a "disheveled state," the attorney wrote.

Exercising his power as his wife's legal guardian, Schiavo banned her parents and others from visiting her at the Park Place Assisted Living Facility in Clearwater where she has been residing since mid-December.

Toxicological tests were conducted at once and came back negative, an indication that no one had injected Terri with any drugs, and her doctor admitted to the St. Petersburg Times that the marks could have been caused by jewelry or someone's fingernails. Moreover, it became quickly apparent that the discovery had been made several hours following the Schindlers' visit, not "immediately after."

Nonetheless, Schiavo ordered the ban remain in place until the Clearwater Police Department completed an investigation of the incident, which likely won't occur any time in the foreseeable future.

Wayne Shelor, public affairs spokesperson for Clearwater PD, refuses to release the slightest piece of information to the media regarding the progress of the investigation, but did tell WorldNetDaily that three detectives have been assigned to the case, with Detective Sgt. Doug Barry in charge.

"[The investigation] will continue until it's complete," is all Shelor will say.

Schiavo's ban on family visits may have been prompted by a growing public awareness of Terri's condition – the neglect of her health and hygiene and an observed decline in her care. Mary Schindler has complained on numerous occasions that since being moved to Park Place, her daughter's hair was not being washed as frequently as it should be, that she was not kept clean and had developed a bedsore on her buttocks, the first she'd ever had.

Recently, Terri lost two teeth – hardly a surprise since she has not received even minimal dental care for years and the teeth in question had become black before breaking off at the root. The Schindlers have been kept in the dark as to what became of the teeth. Did they fall out of her mouth or did Terri swallow them? No one will say.

It is not clear from Bushnell's letter whether any of the teeth extracted were those which had broken off.

Jan Craddock, a Tampa dentist specializing in teeth restoration, had sharp words to say about the lack of care Terri has received as evidenced in Bushnell's letter. In addition to maintaining a busy practice, Craddock has served as an expert witness in a number of malpractice cases and developed forensic expertise working with law enforcement.

First of all, that Terri is fed through a tube into her stomach and does not chew her food would not cause her teeth to blacken and deteriorate, he told WorldNetDaily.

"I would like to find an oral surgeon who would suggest that deterioration of the teeth was due to nonuse," he exclaimed. "Teeth don't deteriorate from nonuse. Except in the case of certain systemic developmental disorders, which Terri did not have, teeth only deteriorate from decay or are lost because of gum disease. Both of these are preventable with proper hygiene. This is a case of neglect, pure and simple."

Said Craddock: "I have never, ever heard of anybody suggesting a disease process that would initiate the breakdown of normal, healthy teeth because of nonuse. The only way teeth break down is through demineralization and a breakdown of the enamel and the dentin, that is, the hard, physical structure of the teeth. The only thing that I've seen that would break the teeth down to the point where they might require extraction are plaque, bacteria and the byproducts that are produced by the bacteria in the plaque, which are what eat the hole in the tooth and make the cavity."

Secondly, normal healthy teeth would not be extracted "to avoid problems" in the future.

"Those five teeth were apparently already causing problems," he said. "That's why the oral surgeon extracted them – because they were either infected, the supporting tissues were infected, or they were so badly broken down that they couldn't be fixed. It's not a matter of nonuse."

Craddock said that without examining Terri's teeth he couldn't say specifically what caused them to turn black or discolor, but he speculated it was either from internal decay within the tooth structure or it was something that would build up on the teeth – like calculus, which is calcified plaque.

Plaque, he explained, transforms from a soft, gooey matrix into a hard deposit because of the calcium in the saliva. These hard deposits must be removed with instruments. That is why for over half a century the American Dental Association advocates brushing one's teeth twice a day and seeing a dentist – for a professional cleaning – twice a year.

Yet according to her medical records, Terri has not had any dental work since at least 1996, despite pleadings by the Schindlers.

Craddock said he couldn't fault the oral surgeon for the extractions without knowing what the state of Terri's mouth and teeth were like and what the options were in treating the problems.

"The oral surgeon may have been outraged by her lack of dental care and refused to have anything more to do with it – and refused to allow his name to be released by Bushnell because he wouldn't want anyone to know he'd been associated with it," Craddock surmised.

The bottom line is that the tooth extractions would not have been necessary had Terri's dental needs been attended to as her parents requested time and again, and as would have been dictated by any reasonable plan of care for a patient with her disabilities.

"She was supposed to get regular dental care," Craddock declared. "There was no reason for her not to get regular dental care just like any other person. If she is truly in a persistent vegetative state that they claim she is, it would be the easiest thing in the world to clean her teeth. She is certainly not going to resist, and from what I've read about the case, she has always responded to anything that tasted good. I think she would have enjoyed getting her teeth cleaned.

"Her teeth should have been cleaned every six months for the last six years and before that. Had it been done every six months, which is an ADA standard that has existed for 60 years, she would not have needed those extractions.

"This isn't something somebody decided last week; this is common knowledge," Craddock concluded. "It's the standard of treatment that applies to everybody, even people with disabilities like Terri. You take them to get their teeth cleaned twice a year. And had she had that done she would not have lost those five teeth."

News of the tooth extraction, which revealed long-standing neglect, was one more outrage to add to a growing list of injuries concerning Terri. That – and the month-long denial of visitation rights to the Schindlers – prompted attorney Patricia Anderson to file a writ of quo warranto Monday on behalf of Bob and Mary Schindler.

Quo warranto means "by what right" or "by what authority" – and it boils down to the fact that Schiavo has never had an annual care plan for Terri in place so that he could carry it out.

"I'm asking the judge to have a hearing and determine that Michael has been acting without authority and to restore visitation," said Anderson.

Specifically, the action asks Judge Greer to direct Schiavo to "demonstrate his authority to act on behalf of the Ward or in derogation of her rights retained under Florida law." Ultimately, the Schindlers want the court to rule that Schiavo is not authorized to act on Terri's behalf.

The annual plan, as required by the Florida statutes, "must specify the current needs of the ward and how those needs are to be met in the coming year." It must provide plans for medical, mental health and rehabilitative services in the coming year, plus a description of the ward's attempts at communication and visitation and a description of her social needs.

No provision is made for the elimination of rehabilitative services or medical treatment, or elimination of visitation.

Anderson draws particular attention to the recent tooth extraction – pointing out to Greer that the "discoloration" of Terri's teeth mentioned in Bushnell's letter was first raised before the court in a hearing in February 2002, which was addressing the inadequacy of the proposed care plan.

"[Schiavo] has no right to deny {Terri] 'necessary services and rehabilitation' in connection with these and possibly other, unknown maladies, " Anderson writes.

Information, including court filings, are posted on the Schindler family website.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sarah Foster is a staff reporter for WorldNetDaily. -- sfoster@worldnetdaily.com

Here's Michael in Nov.1992 UNDER OATH, shortly BEFORE the JURY award:


16     Here I'm brushing her teeth.

17          Q.   Do you take her to the dentist from time-to-time?

18          A.   Yes, we do.

19          Q.   How often do you do that?

20          A.   We try to do it twice a year.  As a matter of
21     fact, she has an appointment Monday.
22          We try to keep her teeth as clean as possible.  It's
23     very hard for us to get into the back of her mouth.  She
24     clamps down and bites down on the toothbrush.  I've had
25     problems before using the suction catheter and she bit the
                               [Hey MIKEY, why did Terri need her TEETH BRUSHED
                               DAILY then but she DOESN'T NEED it NOW?]

___                            PAGE 20

 1     suction catheter there.
 
 2          Q.   What are you doing now?
 
 3          A.   I'm putting on makeup.  I put on her makeup
 4     everyday and I'm finishing up her lipstick.
                               [Hey MIKEY, why did YOU put on MAKEUP and 
                               LIPSTICK DAILY then but NO ONE, not even her 
                               parents are ALLOWED to do that NOW?]

 5          This is the speech pathologist who comes in and works
 6     with Terry.
                               [Hey MIKEY, why did Terri need a SPEECH 
                               PATHOLOGIST then but she DOESN'T NEED one NOW?]
 
 7          Q.  This is the speech pathologist you say?
 
 8          A.   Yes, it's the speech pathologist.
 
 9          Q.   What does he do for her?
 
10          A.   He comes in and massages her lips and uses
11     different flavors to try to help her swallow.  You'll
12     notice he's moving her lips and it helps massage the side
13     of the mouth so the mouth doesn't tighten up.

14          Q.   You hoping he can get her to the point where she
15     swallows?

16          A.   Yes.  You see here rubbing the bottom of her
17     throat, that's, I don't know what the word is, gets them to
18     swallow when you rub the bottom of their throat.  She just
19     swallowed that time.  Sometimes they use ice on her face,
20     too.  It's a stimulation.
                               [Hey MIKEY, why did Terri need SWALLOWING
                               THERAPY then but she DOESN'T NEED it NOW?]

21          Q.   What is that, Mike?

22          A.   That's a -- that is basically used to stimulate
23     her tongue and the back of her tongue to help with her gag
24     reflex.  And like I said, sometimes they use different
25	    flavors.

Connect the Dots ... for Terri

"When Bucky the Labrador collapsed, she[Terri] performed mouth-to-nose resuscitation on him. He died in her arms."
She (Terri) once ran into the house crying because she had run over a rabbit. No one could console her. Her father went outside, came back, and said she was mistaken, there was no dead rabbit in the road. When she finally calmed down and left the room, her dad said, "Man, she nailed it."
"She [Terri] went down my throat about this joke [about Karen Ann Quinlan], that it was inappropriate," [her best friend, Diane] Meyer said. She remembers Terri wondering [the summer before meeting Michael] how the doctors and lawyers possibly could know what Quinlan was feeling or what she would want. "Where there's life," Meyer recalls Schiavo saying, "there's hope."
In an affidavit... [Michael's girlfriend for six months in 1992, Cyndi] Shook quoted Michael Schiavo as saying: "How the hell do I know what to do with her. We never talked about this when we were married. We were young and this was never talked about."
Michael shows the 1992 malpractice jury how responsive Terri is to him.

In late 1992, a jury agrees that Terri should live about 41 additional years, and it awards Michael a Million dollar lawsuit for Terri's rehabilitation. He soon afterwards, stops all physical therapy and rehabilitation, and issues a do-not-resucitate order.
In 1996, Michael asked Jodi Centonze to marry him and she said YES. Michael testified under oath that Jodi is his fiancee. They now have two children together. State law prohibits guardians for the disabled who have significant conflicts of interest.
In 1998, Michael suddenly recalled that Terri 'wished to die' rather than live with an inconspicuous feeding tube under her clothing. Many disabled people live nearly normal lives with the same kind of feeding tube.
In 1999, it became legal for the first time to kill Florida's disabled by removing their feeding tubes. Any 'verbal contract' Michael and Terri might have had before 1990 to kill each other this way, would have been murder at that time and thus illegal.
In 2003, Michael and his lawyer nearly convinced the world that Terri is "PVS" - which by Florida's definition is:
- The absence of voluntary action or cognitive behavior of any kind.
- An inability to communicate or interact purposefully with the environment.
In 2004, The Pope rules that the disabled MUST be fed, and life-sustaining feeding tubes are NOT medical 'treatment'. Terri, a devout Catholic who spent K-12 in Catholic Schools would CERTAINLY honor the Pope's ruling, and choose to live.
Question: Do these 2002 pics look like a Permanent Vegetative State?

From "Terri Big Eyes" video available at www.terrisfight.org

Terri starts out apparently asleep. A doctor wakes her to start his tests.

Doctor: Terri. Open your eyes up...

Terri: (Startled at hearing her name. She starts moving her mouth and fluttering her eyes, like a person who is just waking up)

Doctor: Open your eyes, Terri open your eyes

Terri: (slowly at first, Terri struggles to open her eyes, then turns toward the doctor, and opens her eyes a normal amount)

Doctor: There you go, good.

Terri: (then, either to show off(?) or wanting to perform well, she leans further forward toward the doctor, looks straight at him and opens her eyes as WIDE AS SHE CAN. Note the WRINKLES ACROSS HER FOREHEAD caused by her also RAISING HER EYEBROWS as high as possible )

Doctor: [now obviously impressed] GOOD!! GOOD JOB! GOOD JOB YOUNG LADY! Good Job.

Mar 29, 2004. Michael makes up a ruse to deny ANY Schindlers from visiting Terri, who has recently developed a bedsore, lost two teeth for unexplained reasons, had two life-threatening vomiting sessions, and only rarely gets bathed. Judge Greer that same week gave the Schindler's a Catch-22: Either PROVE Michael ordered the nursing home to NOT share Terri's medical information, or else no court action or investigation will occur. The nursing home then continues to blackout information to Terri's parents, while Michael forces them to stay physically off-site.

= = = = = = = = = == = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Recent interviews/excerpts:
= = = = = = = = = == = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
"Hannity and Colmes" - Tuesday 10-14-03 --> (Terri's father) Bob Schindler: "MONEY and FOUL PLAY"

"On the Record with Greta" - Friday 10-24-03 --> Forensic Pathologist, Dr. Michael Baden: "Potassium imbalance UNLIKELY - HEALTHY heart - NECK TRAUMA"

"At Large with Geraldo Rivera" Sunday 10-26-03 --> author Christopher Darden and Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz: "You have eternity to be dead; You only have a limited amount of time to live"

"Hannity and Colmes" - Monday 10-27-03 --> (father) Bob Schindler and (neurologist) Dr. William Hammesfahr: "She absolutely CAN be rehabilitated -clearly NEVER had heart attack -Emergency room: damaged neck"

"On the Record with Greta" - Monday 10-27-03 --> (attorney) Pat Anderson: "BIG FIGHT -attempted STRANGULATION"

"On the Record with Greta" - Tuesday 10-28-03 --> (attorney) Pat Anderson and (brother) Bobby Schindler: "failing marriage -DIVORCE imminent -Potassium explained":

"Hardball with Chris Matthews" - Wednesday 10-29-03 --> (pro-Terri attorney for ACLJ) Jay Sekulow and (anti-Terri attorney) Joe Tacopina: "Matthews: I think the human issue here is... her eyes flickering... I think she's ALIVE":

"Larry King Live" - Monday 10-27-03 --> (husband) Michael Schiavo[barf alert]: THEY get money from the right wing ACTIVISTS - "Removing somebody's feeding is very painless. It is a very easy way to die" - [later] King: Would you take one[lie detector test]? - No (Commentary) almost entirely pro-husband -->

"O'Reilly Factor" - Wednesday 11-05-03 --> (former "Vegetative State" patient) Kate Adamson: Being starved to death is EXTREMELY painful "It was SHEER torture!" - took her THREE MONTHS of ACUTE REHAB to snap out
Her website says: We stand behind Terri Schindler!

"The Abrams Report" - Thursday 11-06-03 --> (pro-Terri attorney) Pat Anderson and (pro-death attorney) George Felos: "Felos: Michael is a MODEL husband" - Anderson:"Terri got NO REHAB after $award$":

"On the Record with Greta" - Thursday 11-06-03 --> (Gov.Bush's lead attorney) Ken Connor, and followed by a panel discussion:
"Connor: INDEPENDENTLY investigate the circumstances and allegations...
Gloria Alred: Perhaps the PARENTS SHOULD care for her

"Radio Interview" --> (Michael Schiavo's so-called 1st girlfriend after Terri's so-called 'collapse')
MS: "[Terri] upsets my WHOLE LIFE with this, and this is ALL her fault."
GIRLFRIEND: "he can be the most INCREDIBLY MEAN person!"

"CBS News Sunday Morning" - Sunday 11-09-03 -->
( Lead-off feature story for this Sunday morning news magazine )

"Hannity and Colmes" - Monday 11-17-03 --> (Terri's parents) Mary and Bob Schindler:
( "ACQUIRED CEREBRAL PALSY" ... "she's been literally in PRISON for FOUR years" )

"On the Record with Greta" - Friday 01-09-04 --> (Gov.Bush's lead attorney) Ken Connor, and (husband's attorney) George Felos:
Connor: "We'll GO to the Florida Supreme Court, and if the Governor isn't afforded an opportunity to try this case before a JURY, we'll try to go to the U.S. Supreme Court".

"On the Record with Greta" - Wednesday 01-21-04 --> (Gov.Bush's lead attorney) Ken Connor, and (husband's attorney) George Felos:
Connor: "...mister Schiavo and mister Felos are TERRIFIED of trying this case before a JURY. ... NO reasonable jury ... would EVER accept this proposition.".

"On the Record with Greta" - Friday 02-13-04 --> (Gov.Bush's attorney) Nicole Kerr, (husband's attorney) George Felos, and (WFLA reporter) Sharon Parker:
Kerr: "We think this is a TREMENDOUS victory for Terri Schiavo... this case basically says that we're ENTITLED to take depositions, we're entitled to discovery...".

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