Terry Schiavo autopsy report - update on old thread

[Spilchy]

A short while ago, we had a healthy discussion about the Terry Schiavo case. Since the autopsy has been released with the FACTS surrounding her condition, I thought I`d share it here (a link at the bottom) so those who participated in the discussion can see it.



Looks like the husband, courts and court appointed doctors were correct all along. There was zero evidence of abuse by the husband and zero evidence that she was drugged by her husband as her family confidently claimed.



I watched her autopsy report read out loud by the doctor.



For those who thought she felt anything, would get better, reacted to seeing her family, etc... were wrong. In fact as you will read, she was blind too.



Here is the story.



http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/06/15/schiavo.autopsy.ap/index.html



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8225637/

[grt1today]

I did`nt get to keep up on the whole story(I kinda came in at the end), but I just did`nt like the fact that they denied her food or water at the end. Seemed inhumane to me. Even now as I`m typing this, I remember the family talking about how she was gasping for air at the end of the ordeal because she was denied food or water. Sad indeed...

[J.J.]

I`m not upset about the outcome. I`m upset about the means to which the outcome was brought to fruition. The act of starvation is not a means by which civilized human being end life. Hell, we offer death row inmates a better form of death. There are many drugs that can be given to ease the suffering and torment associated with death. Unfortunately, euthenasia lmits the ability to use such drugs. It`s a real disappointment to watch or legal system operate in such a way.



JJ

[stilez]

I thought it was a good decision made. While my girlfriend disagrees with me, I`m stickin to my guns.





Thanks for the update Seth.

[Hemi57]

For those of us who have watched a loved one suffer through to inevitable death, is just unbearable. There definitely a case for euthanasia in more situations than we like to contemplate.

[imported_themightytimmah]

Yeah, the way she died was pretty lame. Funny how its ok to remove a feeding tube, which *might* just lead to death, but its wrong to give a person in that situation a lethal dose of painkillers. Personally, if I were in that situation, my will would specify death by morphine (I got it once, and lemme tell ya, it was a damn good time). Sure as hell beats starving to death.



Tim

[Spilchy]

She wasn`t euthanized (sp?) Unfortunately, it`s illegal. That`s why Dr. Kevorkian was in so much trouble a few years back.



She didn`t starve to death. She died from dehydration.



She was given morphine during the dying process so she was not in pain.

[III]

Originally posted by Spilchy

Looks like the husband, courts and court appointed doctors were correct all along. There was zero evidence of abuse by the husband and zero evidence that she was drugged by her husband as her family confidently claimed.



Maybe, but on the other hand while the report didn`t prove Michael a murderer, it proved him to be a liar. She didn`t have a heart attack or bulimia, which he and his lawyer said she had.



Also, the autopsy leaves unanswered questions, most notably what he called a gap in 1990 between the time Michael said his wife collapsed at 4:30 am, and the time a 911 call was made at 5:40 am.



I`m sorry, but this autopsy still leaves us with a lot of questions.

[III]

Originally posted by Spilchy

She wasn`t euthanized (sp?) Unfortunately, it`s illegal. That`s why Dr. Kevorkian was in so much trouble a few years back.



She didn`t starve to death. She died from dehydration.



She was given morphine during the dying process so she was not in pain.





How is starving to death different from dying from dehydration?



We were all told to believe she wasn`t in pain and felt nothing as you wrote above, so why the morphine?

[MongooseGA]

Originally posted by III

How is starving to death different from dying from dehydration?



We were all told to believe she wasn`t in pain and felt nothing as you wrote above, so why the morphine?



Come on dude. She died. This thread was a simple update. No need to start debating again.

[Scottwax]

The main thing that bothered me about the case was the people who seemed so eager for her to die. There was no reason to rush, it wasn`t like she was in pain.

[mtwedt]

I haven`t commented before on the posts on this topic, but I felt the need to chime in..... Agonal respirations....."gasping for air" are not caused by witholding tube feeds and fluids...it was most likely caused by the morphine. Morphine drips are used in end of life settings as comfort care....its only goal is to provide comfort at the end of life. Discomfort or pain in this setting would be defined as increased respirations and/or heart rate, grimacing facial expressions, extremity movement and the like. The morphine is titrated up to supress the symptoms, thereby restoring comfort. The key piece in this comfort care is that you disregard the side effects of the morphine....cheifly depression of respiration and blood pressure. The goal is not to speed up death but to maintain comfort until death occurs...often from the above mentioned side effects. Comfort care is widely used in end of life scenarios when the patient and/or family and the healthcare team determine that the patient cannot recover to a quality of life that the PATIENT would value and therein laid the rub in this case. The husband and parents had different views of what Terri would consider quality life, compounded by the fact that the parents ascribed certain behaviors as evidence of slow recovery which the heathcare team did not agree with and the autopsy seems to support and some of the questionable circumstances of how Terri sustained such severe injury in the first place and the secondary gains for the husband in the event of Terri`s death. There are no simple or right answers here...people will base their opinions of this case on their own value systems and beliefs of life and death. I have to deal with this frequently as a critical care RN whose practices in Cardiac Surgery. The very best prevention for this type of situation is for family members to speak openly and honestly about what they would want in such a situation with each other (something Americans are not nearly as willing to do as some other societies are) and then document the decisions reached in an advanced directive. As this case points out, you don`t have to be elderly to be in such a situation as Terri and her family were.

[Mr. Clean]

Originally posted by mtwedt

The very best prevention for this type of situation is for family members to speak openly and honestly about what they would want in such a situation with each other (something Americans are not nearly as willing to do as some other societies are) and then document the decisions reached in an advanced directive. As this case points out, you don`t have to be elderly to be in such a situation as Terri and her family were.



:up



Regardless of which side you take on the issue, it would be a stretch to view 15 years as rushing someone to their death given the circumstances.

[Mochamanz1]

Hospice is HUMANE ! I have been through the heartbreak of watching family members suffer with no recovery possible, this is especially heartbreaking when it is realized that continued life means only intense, pointless suffering. The kind thing to do is to let ones own subjective (love) prevail and allow the loving, natural, God given release of death. Death ironically is viewed as not the end for one who is a Christian... It is a bright, new beginning !



:xyxthumbs





The imagery promoted of poor Maria was heartrending, we all hate the sight of dying, she remains a haunting memory. It was handled heartlessly by (media) people who should have stood back and looked at it with professional detachment, IMHO. I hope all involved find peace with the outcome, the fact is, emotionally, death is always harder on the people surrounding the departing.