Posted on 03/21/2005 7:43:31 PM PST by Babu
DISABLED WOMAN WOULD CRY 'HELP ME' CAREGIVERS CLAIM
By Jeff Johnson CNSNews.com Congressional Bureau Chief
September 03, 2003
(Editor's note [Rush Limbaugh site]: This report contains quoted language and descriptions of alleged multiple instances of denied medical care that some readers may find offensive.)
(CNSNews.com) - A federal judge Tuesday refused to stop a Florida court from ordering the removal of a disabled woman's feeding tube at the request of her husband. However, the judge gave the woman's parents ten days to amend their lawsuit against the husband, the hospital caring for the woman and the hospice where she is being kept in anticipation of her death by starvation or dehydration. The lawsuit also named the husband's attorney as a "non-party co-conspirator" to the alleged violations.
Robert and Mary Schindler filed an emergency complaint Saturday with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Tampa in an effort to block their daughter's husband and legal guardian, Michael Schiavo, from moving forward with plans to remove his wife's feeding tube. Thirty-nine year old Terri Schindler Schiavo suffered a brain injury in 1990 under questionable circumstances. That injury, complicated by a lack of therapy for more than a decade, has required that she be given nutrition and hydration through a gastrostomy or "feeding tube."
Since receiving a $1.2 million medical malpractice award on behalf of his wife, Schiavo has provided only subsistence care for her and, based on affidavits included with the Schindlers' suit, allegedly forbidden medical professionals from providing his wife with any therapy or rehabilitation. He is currently allowing her to receive limited medical treatment for a severe infection under a court order.
Former caregivers file affidavits supporting allegations
Three medical professionals who had cared for Terri in the past filed affidavits accompanying the lawsuit, disputing Michael Schiavo's claims that his wife was in a "Persistent Vegetative State," which is the requirement under Florida law for a feeding tube to be removed. The medical experts also chronicled a long history of alleged denial of care and therapy by Schiavo.
Carolyn Johnson, a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), cared for Terri in a nursing home in the early 1990s. She described her shock at being ordered not to provide the same care for Terri as a patient in the same room with a similar brain injury was receiving.
"I learned, as part of my training, that there was a family dispute and that the husband, as guardian, wanted no rehabilitation for Terri," Johnson explained. "Once, I wanted to put a cloth in Terri's hand to keep her hand from closing in on itself, but I was not permitted to do this, as Michael Schiavo considered that to be a form of rehabilitation."
Another CNA, Heidi Law, cared for Terri at a convalescent center in the mid and late 1990s. Law described similar orders she received not to encourage Mrs. Schiavo's recovery.
"I know that Terri did not receive routine physical therapy or any other kind of therapy. I was personally aware of orders for rehabilitation that were not being carried out," Law alleged in her affidavit. "Even though they were ordered, Michael [Schiavo] would stop them. Michael [Schiavo] ordered that Terri receive no rehabilitation or range of motion therapy."
Law also alleged that her attempts to document Terri's potential for improvement were thwarted.
"I made extensive notes and listed all of Terri's behaviors, but there was never any apparent follow-up consistent with her responsiveness," Law said. "There were trash cans at the nurses stations that we were supposed to empty each shift, and I often saw the notes in them."
Law directly disputes Michael Schiavo's claim that Terri is in a Persistent Vegetative State, as well. In her affidavit, she detailed how she routinely provided Terri with a wet washcloth filled with ice chips to keep her mouth moistened and, on at least three occasions, fed Terri flavored gelatin.
"I personally saw her swallow the ice water and never saw her gag. [Another CAN] and I frequently put orange juice or apple juice in her washcloth to give her something nice to taste, which made her happy," Law recalled. "On three or four occasions I personally fed Terri small mouthfuls of Jell-O, which she was able to swallow and enjoyed immensely."
Nurse recalls Schiavo asking, 'When is that bitch gonna die?'
Carla Sauer Iyer was a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) at the same convalescent center in the mid 1990s, and also cared for Terri. She described Mr. Schiavo as being "focused on Terri's death.
"Michael [Schiavo] would say, 'When is she going to die? Has she died yet?' and 'When is that bitch going to die?'" Iyer charged. "Other statements which I recall him making include, 'Can't anything be done to accelerate her death, won't she ever die?' When she wouldn't die, Michael [Schiavo] would be furious."
Conversely, Iyer said that when she would have to call Schiavo to inform him of a downturn in Terri's condition, Schiavo would be elated.
"Michael would be visibly excited, thrilled even, hoping that she would die," Iyer recalled. "He would blurt out, 'I'm going to be rich,' and would talk about all the things he would buy when Terri died, which included a new car, a new boat and going to Europe, among other things."
Iyer also described incidents of Terri Schiavo talking, moving voluntarily and responding to external stimuli, descriptions that Iyer said were removed from Mrs. Schiavo's medical records. Both Law and Iyer reported Terri verbally communicating, also contradicting Michael Schiavo's claim that his wife was in a Persistent Vegetative State.
"During the time I cared for Terri, she formed words. I have heard her say 'mommy' from time to time, and 'momma,'" Law recalled. "She also said 'help me' a number of times."
Iyer described Terri as "alert and oriented," and said Michael Schiavo "systematically distorted" Terri's medical condition.
"Terri spoke on a regular basis while in my presence, saying such things as 'mommy' and 'help me,'" Iyer recalled. "'Help me' was, in fact, one of her most frequent utterances. I heard her say it hundreds of times."
Attorney named as 'non-party co-conspirator' to civil rights violations
The lawsuit filed by Terri's parents accuses Schiavo, both personally and in his official capacity as Terri's legal guardian, of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act for refusing to provide appropriate medical care and rehabilitation therapy, which are required by the law and for seeking to deprive her of nutrition and hydration, which is forbidden by the law.
George Felos, Michael Schiavo's attorney and a noted author and advocate in Florida's so-called "right to die" movement, is also named as a "non-party co-conspirator" in the lawsuit. The Schindlers allege that Schiavo, with Felos' help, sought to deprive Terri of her due process rights under the Fifth and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
The suit charges that Terri was denied a guardian ad litem during most of the legal proceedings in which her husband sought to end her life and, the remainder of the time, suffered from "ineffective assistance of counsel, due process violations, and blatant conflict of interest with Terri's guardian, defendant Michael Schiavo," who is responsible for seeing that her legal interests are represented.
The only guardian ad litem and the only attorney to represent Terri prior to her parents' intervention in the case were removed when the attorney suggested that Michael Schiavo had a conflict of interest that prohibited him from serving as Terri's guardian.
The complaint also alleges that Schiavo and Felos conspired to deprive Terri of access to her priest in violation of the First Amendment and that the use of a 1999 Florida law in her case represented a Fifth Amendment due process violation of the constitutional prohibition on ex post facto legislation since Mrs. Schiavo had suffered her injury in 1990.
All of the cumulative rights violations are alleged under 42 USC 1983, which provides that, "Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress."
The hospice where Terri Schiavo is being kept and the hospital where her infection was supposed to have been treated are also accused of violating the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. That law requires that "handicapped" receive comparable medical care to that given able-bodied patients with similar conditions or injuries. Both facilities are subject to the Rehabilitation Act because they receive federal Medicare funding. The hospital is also charged with violating provisions of the Social Security law in 42 USC 1395dd, which requires the examination and appropriate treatment of emergency medical conditions and forbids the discharge of patients before their conditions are stabilized. The Schindlers believe their daughter was prematurely discharged from the hospital on more than one occasion in an attempt to hasten her death.
Felos accused the Schindlers of trying to subvert the Florida justice system.
"The purpose of this lawsuit is to invalidate the lower court's decision," Felos told the Tampa Tribune Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge Richard Lazzara gave the Schindlers ten days to file an amended version of their lawsuit and offered Felos an additional ten days to respond. He would not, however, block a hearing scheduled for Sept. 11, during which Pinellas-Pasco Florida Circuit Judge George Greer is expected to set a date for Terri Schiavo's feeding tube to be removed.
Attorneys for both sides told reporters after the emergency hearing Tuesday that they do not expect Greer to set that date any earlier than the 20-day period set by the federal court for the Schindlers' amended complaint and Felos' response.
Righto. YOU can't have it both ways.
So is Michael Schiavo's testimony as to what Terri told him.
...Particularly if he was trying to impress a pretty nurse.
Doesn't mean a thing. Michael has given testimony. People here call it hearsay. Get the picture?
Doesn't mean a thing. Michael has given testimony. People here call it hearsay. Get the picture?
That seems pretty self evident.
Here is another MD's report.
He tried to testify for her and was ignored.(William M. Hammesfahr, M.D.) It is basically his final conclusion of Terri's condition. I have left out parts because it is lengthy but I think you can get the jest.
If any one tries to tell you this MD is a quack like I have seen on other threads..ask yourself why our state reps/mds voted yes. Are they all quacks too? Impression:
The patient is not in coma.
She is alert and responsive to her environment.
She responds to specific people best.
She tries to please others by doing activities for which she gets verbal praise.
She responds negatively to poor tone of voice.
She responds to music.
She differentiates sounds from voices.
She differentiates specific people's voices from others.
She differentiates music from stray sound.
She attempts to verbalize.(!!!!!)
She has voluntary control over multiple extremities
She can swallow.(!!!!)
She is partially blind
She is probably aphasic and has a degree of receptive aphasia.
She can feel pain.
On this last point, it is interesting to observe that the records from Hospice show frequent medication administered for pain by staff.
With respect to specifics and specific recommendations in order to carry out the instructions of the Second District Court of Appeal:
From a neurological standpoint: The patient appears to be partially blind.
She needs a full opthamological (eye) evaluation and visual evoked potentials done to flash and checkerboard patters. The opthamological examination is to evaluate her retina and her ophthalmic nerve to try to determine the cause of her visual limitations and if any treatment exists. The evoked potentials looks at the nerve between the eye and the visual centers in the brain, to see if there is treatable damage and the type of damage, if any in these areas.
This is important, as for individuals to interact with her...
*snip*
Communication: She can communicate. She needs a Speech Therapist, Speech Pathologist, and a communications expert to evaluate how to best communicate with her and to allow her to communicate and for others to communicate with her.
Also, a treatment plan for how to develop better communication needs to be done.
*snip*
ENT: The patient can clearly swallow, and is able to swallow approximately 2 liters of water per day (the daily amount of saliva generated). Water is one of the most difficult things for people to swallow. It is unlikely that she currently needs the feeding tube.(!!!!!) She should be evaluated by an Ear Nose and Throat specialist, and have a new swallowing exam.
*snip*
Her physical exam and videotapes also suggest a spinal cord injury is also present, as she has much better control over he face, head, and neck, than over her arms and legs.
This reminds one of a person with a spinal cord injury who has good facial control, but poor use of arms and legs. It is possible that a correctable spinal abnormality such as a herniated disk may be found that could be treated and result in better neurological functioning. This should be looked for, as may be treatable.
Thus, there may be an injured disk or spinal cord; the disk injury is more treatable, the spinal cord injury, if present without a disk injury, may be more difficult to treat.
A person with a spinal cord injury and hypoxic encephalopathy will need different treatment and rehab recommendations than one who just has a hypoxic encephalopathic.
Interestingly, I have seen this pattern of mixed brain (cerebral) and spinal cord findings in a patient once before, a patient who was asphyxiated.
*snip*
____________________________ William M. Hammesfahr, M.D.
"Help me" was, in fact, one of her most frequent utterances. I heard her say it hundreds of times."
Everyone who has ignored that plea or used their political voice to silence it are monsters. I'm just flabbergasted our society has been become so apathetic to allow this but then again it was predicted about two hundred plus years ago. This just stinks beyond belief.
The medical diagnosis is moot because the HINO's will trumps all, by statute without limitation of Florida State Law.
Unfreakingbelievable!
Michael gives testimony that will result in him getting a LOT of money and a chance to marry the woman he is committing adulty with. (Of course he is, because he insists that Terri is his wife. He can't have it both ways)
Nurses give testimony that may result (and does) in at least one of them losing their jobs.
But motives NEVER have anything to do with who tells the truth and who lies.
I wonder if she dies if this creep could be charged with murder? Even a lessor charge of murder? Seems to me that if one helps by denial of medical care of another that if it leads to that persons demise, it could be a basis for charges?
(If I may be permitted a little French lingo)
For his law clerks to read the legal brief.....Hopefully they are fast readers.
BTW what do we know about this judge....other than he is a Clinton appointee....What's his rate of turn over? Is he considered fair? Does he value life? Does he try to legislate from the bench?
With the whole Democrap machine and Ye Old Media on his side, me doubts if Mr. Schiavo collects his bad karma in this world ...
What money is Michael going to get. I seem to remember him turning down a million bucks just last week. There goes the money motive. And he would be free to marry his new babe if he divorced Terri. Why hasn't he just divorced her? I'm not saying he's a swell guy. I'm just saying these arguments don't wash.
Well, if Bill Clinton could be of service here, we would be most obliged. A quick email to the judge perhaps?
What's a million bucks to the HINO on death row?
Rush was talking about Stahlin who let millions of Russians starving to death today on his show. Is this Michael another Stahlin? Is he in disguise being made what to say by his lawyer who wants to share in the money he is supposed to receive?
I believe there will be a special place in hell for him as well as those who take innocent lifes! Just my opinion!
If the HINO turned down a million bucks, it was on the advice of his lawyer.
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.