Thursday, April 2, 2015

TERRY SCHIAVO LIVES AGAIN?

You may recall the case of Terry Schiavo.  She went into a coma and was later pronounced brain dead, but she was kept "alive" by artificial means for 10 yrs.  When her husband got a court order to pull the feeding tube, Jeb Bush got involved.*  He got an order to replace the feeding tube.  When this was overturned by the courts, he manipulated things to try to have it replaced so Schiavo "lived" another 5 yrs before her husband finally got the tube removed and she permanently "died."

Now there are emotional reasons to have supported Jeb Bush.  My sister-in-law, who is a physician, for example felt that Schiavo was not brain dead from looking at TV pictures, though in an autopsy it was found the Schiavo was indeed brain dead.  There are cases, I guess, where a person in a coma for years does come out of the coma.**

No one seems to answer the question of how many Terry Schiavos can we afford?  Medicine seems capable of keeping many (any?) coma patients "alive" indefinitely.  Is the public responsible for keeping such people "alive" in perpetuity?

Jeb Bush's insistence of inserting himself into this case is a great disappointment to me.    It is scary to think that Jeb Bush is actually one of the more rational Republicans.  I suppose you have to accept some blemishes in whomever you select as a presidential candidate, but this blemish is very serious.

The upshot is that you should make sure your wishes on health are understood IN WRITING and NOTARIZED while you still have your facilities.

* http://thinkprogress.org/election/2014/12/17/3604615/michael-schiavo-jeb-bush/
** Particularly notice case number 2 (http://listverse.com/2015/01/10/10-amazing-stories-of-people-who-woke-up-from-comas/)

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