Posted on 01/30/2005 9:31:00 AM PST by underlying
Clearwater, FL (LifeNews.com) -- A former court-appointed legal advocate for Terri Schiavo says that a new medical examination is needed to put to rest the years-long battle over whether Terri has any chance of recovering from her disabilities should she be given the medical care and rehabilitation she's been denied for a decade.
University of South Florida professor Jay Wolfson told the Associated Press that, before any tests are conducted, both Terri's parents and her estranged husband Michael must agree to drop their ongoing legal battle.
"There is so much at stake here, not just for Terri, but for the issue," Wolfson said.
"If we were serious about addressing this, we would say, 'What are the interests of the parties and how can we use science, medicine and good law to take away from the clouding factors in this case?' " he told AP.
Barbara Weller, an attorney for Bob and Mary Schindler told AP that conducting such tests with truly impartial people would be a considerable challenge.
"The problem is finding truly neutral doctors," Weller said.
Attorneys for Michael made a similar offer as recently as the end of 2004, but the Schindlers were hesitant to accept it because doctors have been so staunchly divided on whether Terri can recover.
Doctors for Michael claim Terri is in a persistent vegetative state and the Schindlers' medical experts say Terri is responsive, interacts with family, and has a good chance of improving her condition.
Wolfson was appointed to be Terri's guardian ad litem for two months during the latter half of 2003.
Charged with evaluating Terri's condition at that time, Wolfson an attorney who serves as the director of health policy information at USF, claimed Terri is in a persistent vegetative state. He also said that she deserved to be given a swallowing test to see if she can eat and drink on her own before a decision is made to remove her feeding tube another time.
A local judge ruled against reappointing Wolfson for another stint as Terri's guardian.
Florida Governor Jeb Bush hoped a second term for Wolfson would allow him to investigate what happened on the night Terri collapsed. A brain scan shows possible trauma and Terri's family has been unable to get anyone to investigate whether or not Michael may have abused Terri.
Terri has never had a full time legal representative or an attorney on her behalf during the decade that the legal fight has occurred.
That's a point of contention for the Schindlers, who say that the decision to remove her feeding tube should be reversed, in part, because of it.
Related web sites:
Terri Schiavo's family - http://www.terrisfight.org
A lovely woman who was unlucky to marry a monster
If all goes well and She actually recieves some type of rehab, I would love to hear Terri communicate again and learn exactly what happened that day of her accident...
Although Wolfson was appointed as Terri's guardian, he appeared to be working for Michael Sciavo instead. That is not surprising, since he was chosen and appointed by a murderous pro-death judge.
Maybe now he's having pangs of conscience. Too late, scum. You should have spoken out before when you had legal standing.
Terri ping!If anyone would like to be added to or removed from my Terri ping list, please let me know by FReepmail!
You should have spoken out before when you had legal standing.
As I recall, the FL Republican judges just ignored Wolfson: anything he said that was not pro-Michael R. Schiavo was not considered by George W. Greer and fellow liberal stooges Demers and Baird. While Wolfson initially appeared to be a Michael R. Schiavo admirer, he may have been more willing to see both sides than the Terri defenders initially thought.
George W. Greer made up his mind on Terri five years ago and nothing short of the Second Coming of the Almighty God will change the mind of George W. Greer.
Thanks for the ping!
"The problem is finding truly neutral doctors," Weller said.
Bears repeating.
I agree that "Judge" Greer is a hopeless case. But Wolfson could have embarrassed Greer with the press, and maybe even damaged his chances of getting re-elected, if he had spoken out more forcefully in behalf of the woman whose welfare he was supposed to be defending.
Maybe I'm unfair to the man. Liberal academics are often out of touch with reality, and Greer probably picked someone whom he figured he could rely on not to make waves.
If Wolfson manages to help now, good.
Terri bump
Bumpity Bump
Terri's parents will NEVER drop their legal battle. Sheeeeeesh. Anyway, I wouldn't trust this guy one little bit.
Actually it was another judge who appointed Wolfson...
Pinellas Circuit Court Judge David Demers appointed Wolfson Oct. 31 despite objections filed in court Oct. 25 and Oct. 29 on behalf of Schiavo’s parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, who believe Wolfson may be biased based on a television interview where he commented on the constitutionality of “Terri’s Law.”
http://www.floridabaptistwitness.com/1738.article
But in the 6th circuit and 2nd DCA it's 6 to 1, half dozen to the other. Not a one of those judges has seems to be aware of the guardianship statutes, the ADA, or that a judge is supposed to recuse himself when requested.
Terri bump
I'm really disturbed over the issue of "recovering". What in the world does that mean? Does "recovery" mean that an injured or disabled person must "recover" to some definition of a "normal" state? If Terri actually receives some therapy, and doesn't "recover" to the condition she was in before the event that caused her disability, why, then, just remove her food and water and allow her to starve and dehydrate? If this is the standard, then I'd say there are a lot of disabled people in this country who have cause for concern.
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