Social Service Agency to Probe Schiavo Abuse Allegations
The Department of Children and Families is seeking a two month stay on the removal of Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube pending investigations on alleged abuse claims
The Department of Children and Families is seeking a two month stay on the removal of Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube pending investigations on alleged abuse claims, an attorney representing her parents announced on Thursday, February 24, 2005.
The DCF, which entered the seven-year legal battle over Terri’s life on Wednesday, filed an 11-page confidential document detailing why it wants to intervene in the controversial case.
Matt Davis, and attorney with the Gibbs Law Firm (GLF), said the DCF file, which was shared with the attorneys on the case, echoes the complaints made by Terri’s parents that their daughter had been mistreated.
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Bob and Mary Schindler, who are fighting against Terri’s husband, Michael, to keep her feeding tube in place, have long pointed out that their severely brain damaged daughter does not receive the proper treatment she needs to recover.
In an interview with the Christian Post last week, the Schindlers explained that Michael, who has fathered two children with his live-in girlfriend, placed Terri in a hospice for the past five years and prevented her from receiving both speech and physical therapy.
“She’s in a hospice. She’s been in there for five years, and she can’t get out. Normally people are taken to the hospice when they are expected to die in a few months, but she continues to live,” said Mary Schindler, who further said that with the proper treatment, Terri would learn to swallow.
“Terri should have a swallowing test every two years to check if it gets worse or better. She’s supposed to do both for a while- feeding tube and swallowing by mouth- and then eventually take it out,” said Mary.
The Schindlers filed a suit asking Terri be given 8 weeks of speech and swallow therapy in Oct. 2003, but the court sided with Michael who objected to the treatment.
Also on Feb. 14, Speech Language Pathologist, Sara Green Mele, M.S. CCC-SLP, swore under oath that Terri would improve her abilities if only she is given the chance.
"It is my judgment based on my training and clinical experience working with patients similar to Terri that she would, within a reasonable degree of clinical probability, be able to improve her ability to interact with her environment, communicate with others, and control her environment if she were given appropriate therapy and training as outlined above. These recommendations, in my opinion would greatly improve Terri's quality of life,” said Mele.
According to Davis, the DCF neither names the perpetrator nor claims to have substantiated the allegations. It only says it needs time to properly investigate the claims.
However, Davis said once the investigations pull through, the judge will likely see that Terri had been mistreated over the years under her husband’s case.
"We are confident when someone from the outside does see how Terri has been treated, they will see she has been mistreated all these years," Davis said.
George Felos, the attorney for Michael Schiavo, did not comment on the DCF filing on Thursday, but on Wednesday said the agency is being used for political motives. Michael also repeatedly denied mistreating his wife – both before and after the “accident” that caused her to collapse from oxygen depletion.
Michael’s lawyer said Terri’s 1990 collapse was caused by a potassium imbalance brought on by bulimia. With that argument, Michael won $1.4 million in a malpractice case against her doctor.
However, whether Schiavo really was bulimic is in dispute: the Schindlers both said their daughter did not have an eating disorder and that Michael may have been involved in the “accident.” More than two years ago, the Schindlers’ former attorneys told Greer that a 1991 bone scan revealing several fractures on Terri raised questions on abuse.
Previous attempts to investigate abuse have yet to solidify. In 2003, both the Pinellas State Attorney Bernie McCabe and the Tallahassee-based Advocacy Center for Persons with Disabilities, the state-appointed organization which monitors the treatment of disabled adults in Florida, probed the allegations that Terri had been abused.
McCabe’s review found no evidence of abuse, and even if it had, the statute of limitations had expired.
However, Richard LaBelle, a Dunedin attorney who works with the advocacy center, said the agency reviewed court files and other medical records that was readily available, but were unable to complete their investigation because Michael would not permit their groups to perform medical examinations on Terri.
LaBelle said the DCF should get involved in Terri’s critical case.
"I think that as an advocate for persons with disabilities, I think any claims should be resolved before further action is taken," LaBelle said. "I think the line should be drawn in favor of pursuing a good faith investigation.”
According to Davis, the DCF document is only attempting to act on allegations of abuse after her accident.
