Terri Schiavo Case Analysis

A physician must understand that when it comes to deciding to withhold or withdraw life sustaining treatment it is ultimately the patient’s decision unless the patient is not competent enough to make this choice. I believe that a person can lose their life at any point. Death is certain and no one can run from it. In my opinion, a patient’s autonomy is of utmost importance anytime during healthcare however the physician can name some recommendations of what would be the best option for the patient. When it comes to patients they deserve to be treated with respect and ultimately be treated as an end not as a means to an end.

When a patient is unable to make decisions for himself or herself, their caregivers and those who know them are appointed to make the decisions based on what the patient would have wanted. This is called surrogate decision making. According to the article Terri Schiavo and End-of-Life Decisions “when surrogate decision makers and caregivers cannot agree upon what that choice would have been, they may turn to the courts to determine either what the now-incapacitated patient would have chosen or who is best suited to choose as the patient would have” (Mathes, 2005)

this hardship. When I interviewed Kelly Mitchell about her Aunt Deena dying from cancer she

Over the course of her illness, the doctors called us to the family meeting about a half dozen times. Each time we refused, and she improved enjoying another 6 to 8 months before a crisis. I am sure that if she were totally vegetative, that we would have reluctantly let her go, but her time had not come.

afford insurance for herself. Because of this, she developed quite a bit of health issues that she

Terri Schiavo suffered a heart attack which caused severe brain damage due to lack of oxygen to the brain. According to doctors, she was in an irreversible persistent vegetative state. Terri was on life support and unresponsive for years. Terri’s husband believed Terri wouldn’t have wanted to be on life support if there were no chances of her recovering so he ordered for them to remove her feeding tubes. Unfortunately, her parents weren’t on the same page. They believed there was a possible chance of recovering even though she showed absolutely no signs of recovery. Terri’s husband later petitioned the Sixth Circuit Court of Florida to remove her feeding tubes. The court then determined that Terri wouldn’t have wanted to pro-long her life under

Here in the United States, the topic of assisted suicide as long being discussed and disputed many times especially when there is a high profile case in the news. According to (Sanburn, J 2015) throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Death with Dignity National Center kept an office in Washington, D.C. For years, Republican lawmakers tried to pass legislation nullifying Oregon’s 1997 Death with Dignity Act, which allowed terminally ill patients to obtain life-ending medication. The legislation never made it out of the Senate, but it eventually passed in the Republican-controlled House, and the aid-in-dying organization felt compelled to keep pressure on Congress to stop the bill. Then came Terri Schiavo.

Terri Schiavo had a cardiac arrest triggered by hypokalemia, which means that she had low levels of potassium in her blood. The cardiac arrest deprived oxygen of her brain and put her in a coma. Many doctors diagnosed her as a persistent vegetative state. Ever since she collapsed on February 25, 1990, she has been on a feeding tube until March 18, 2005.

Terri Schiavo, a young 26 year-old girl who collapsed on February 25th 1990. Her potassium level was very low, which is why she had lost consciousness. While she was unconscious she was deprived of oxygen in her brain, long enough to leave her in a “persistent vegetative state,” a condition that is not to be confused with brain death. She could breathe without assistance, but she was incapable of thought or emotion. She was put on a feeding tube because she couldn't eat, she has been like this for 15 years. Then Terri’s husband stated that the hospital should take out her feeding tube and let her starve to death, but Terri’s parents refused and wanted to keep her alive.

Terri Schiavo was 26 years old when she collapsed in her home and suffered acute hypoxia for several minutes. Slightly shy of a year after her injury, it was clinically determined that she was in a persistent vegetative state (Perry, Churchill, & Kirshner, 2005). There were no legal documents, such as an advance directive or living will, specifying the wishes for care under such circumstances. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, was designated as her legal guardian. The Schiavo case caught the public’s attention when her husband elected to remove her feeding tube in the mid 1900’s. He understood that there has never been a case of recovery after a year of being in a persistent vegetative state. One of the moral issues surrounding the case centered on the appropriateness of removing the life-sustaining feeding tube or maintaining it. Throughout the case, there has

They were the subjects of public disputes with family members, court systems, medical professionals, the media, and society at large. Terri Schiavo, Nancy Cruzan and Karen Ann Quinlan; their names are synonymous with permanent vegetative state (PVS). The amazing technological advancements in modern medicine has been credited with keeping persons alive who in times past would have died, therefore this is remarkable for countless families. In the cases of the Quinlan’s, the Cruzan’s and many like them, families members find it unbearable to witness loved ones who linger indefinitely in PVS with little or no chance for recovery. There are many like Terri Schiavo’s parents, who value the lives of their love ones no matter how limited their

She was purposely placed in a medically induced comatose state in order to calm her system and allow the

was a burden for her friends and family staying alive in her condition. She recovered from this

Terri Schiavo, age 26, collapsed in her home in February of 1990. When the emergency crew arrived, she was in full cardiac arrest. It is later revealed that it was caused by potassium deficiency, as she had the eating disorder bulimia. It is suspected that Michael, her husband, has tried to strangle her, based upon a neck injury she received upon being admitted to the hospital. The cardiac arrest led to oxygen being cut off to her brain, causing her to fall into a coma. She emerged, and even though Terri has extreme brain damage, she was able to maintain a heartbeat and breath on her own. She was able to hold her doctor, Dr. Cheshire’s gaze for a limited amount of time, smiled and seemed to recognize familiar voices. Terri’s

When entering a medical facility the last situation you ever hope to be faced with is whether or not to put yourself through medical treatment. Over the years treatment outcomes and survival rate have increase with difficult surgeries. However, for some individuals the quality of life is faced by the quantity of life that a lifesaving treatment may bring. This topic has been all through newspapers and spreads nationwide as individuals forego curative medical treatment because of religious beliefs.