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I hate to say that one document is all you need to read to know what you need to know about the tragic Terri Schiavo case, but the best primer on this episode--which just so happens to undercut the arguments of Tom DeLay, Bill Frist and the other Republican politicians seeking to exploit this sad story--is a December 2003 report written by Dr. Jay Wolfson. He's a doctor and a lawyer who was appointed as a guardian for Schiavo in October 2003 by none other than Florida Governor Jeb Bush. If you care about the case and the issues it raises--and if you care about Terri Schiavo--you should read the entire 40-page report. NPR, which aired a well-done interview with Wolfson yesterday, has posted a PDF version on its site.
Some key portions:
* [The Guardian concludes] that all of the appropriate and proper elements of the law have been followed and met. The law has done its job well. The courts [which supported the decision to suspend feeding] have carefully and diligently adhered to the prescribed civil processes and evidentiary guidelines, and have painfully and diligently applied the required tests in a reasonable, conscientious and professional manner.
* Highly competent, scientifically based physicians using recognized measures and standards have deduced, within a high degree of medical certainty, that Theresa is in a persistent vegetative state. This evidence is compelling.
* Theresa's neurological tests and CT scans indicate objective measures of the persistent vegetative state.
* Individuals have come forward indicating that there are therapies and treatments and interventions that can literally re-grow Theresa's functional, cerebral cortex brain tissue [which has shrunken], restoring part of all of her functions. There is no scientifically valid, medically recognized evidence that this has been done or is possible, even in rats, according to the president of the American Society for Neuro-Transplantation.
* [The Guardian] concludes from the medical records and consultations with medical experts that the scope and weight of the medical information within the file concerning Theresa Schiavo consists of competent well-document information that she is in a persistent vegetative state with no likelihood of improvement.
Wolfson describes the history of the case, noting that her husband Michael did try for years to find therapies and treatments for Schiavo before concluding there were no possibilities. He also notes that the evidence presented by two neurologists chosen by Michael Schiavo and a neurologist picked by the Florida court in charge of the case was "clear and convincing in support of Theresa being in a persistent vegetative state with no hope of improvement." The evidence presented by physicians chosen by Schiavo's parents, according to Wolfson, "was substantially anecdotal, and was reasonably deemed to be not clear and convincing." In this report--which is written in a passionate and eloquent fashion--Wolfson also notes he spent much time with Schiavo and "was not able to independently determine that there were consistent, repetitive, intentional, reproducible interactive and aware activities."
Remember, Wolfson was selected by Jeb Bush to review the case. Now, who's more credible: Wolfson or Tom DeLay and his comrades in exploitation? (See yesterday's item, posted below this one, for evidence that DeLay and the others are being rather selective in their concern for Schiavo.)
As for George W. Bush, he yesterday proclaimed that if any errors are to be made in a case like Schiavo's, these mistakes ought to occur on the side of life. Yet in 1999, Bush signed into law, as governor of Texas, a bill that would allow a guardian or a doctor to deny life-sustaining care to a patient who had not left behind written instructions. Here's what that law, the Texas Advance Directives Act, says:
166.039.(a) If an adult qualified patient has not executed or issued a directive and is incompetent or otherwise mentally or physically incapable of communication, the attending physician and the patient's legal guardian or an agent under a medical power of attorney may make a treatment decision that may include a decision to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment from the patient.
(b) If the patient does not have a legal guardian or an agent under a medical power of attorney, the attending physician and one person, if available, from one of the following categories, in the following priority, may make a treatment decision that may include a decision to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment:
(1) the patient's spouse;
(2) the patient's reasonably available adult children;
(3) the patient's parents; or
(4) the patient's nearest living relative.
So, a question, Mr. Bush: When did you have a conversion?
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