Bill Frist, M.D., politicizing the Schiavo case (David Shuster)
As part of our coverage in the Terri Schiavo case, I've been consulting and talking with several doctors. And while they disagree on who should decide Schiavo's fate, what tests should have been done, and the different steps the Florida courts might have taken, these physicians are united in their disgust over one key player in the Schiavo case— Senate majority leader Bill Frist. As one doctor said, "Frist has embarrassed and brought shame upon the medical profession."
It was last Thursday when Frist went to the Senate floor and argued that Florida doctors had erred in saying Terry Schiavo is in a persistent vegetative state. "I question it based on a review of the video footage which I spent an hour or so looking at last night in my office... she certainly seems to respond to visual stimuli."
Bill Frist is a heart surgeon not a neurologist. But even more disturbing to his medical colleagues is the fact that he has never examined Terri Schiavo nor looked at her lengthy medical records. It appears that Frist also disregarded the voluminous report on Schiavo prepared by Dr. Jay Wolfson, Schiavo's special guardian in 2003. Wolfson spent 30 days with Schiavo. And in his report, he points out that Schiavo makes noises regardless of whether somebody is in her room or not. (The tape Frist reportedly reviewed was 4 years old and included only the snippets her parents wanted people to see.) William J. Winslade, a bioethicist and law professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch says Senator Frist "has no business making a diagnosis from a video."
Unfortunately for his medical colleagues, Bill Frist is no longer in the business of medicine... he is in the business of politics. And the deal he has made involves the 2008 Republican presidential primaries. Frist wants the support of evangelical and social conservatives. And he is counting on their support to overcome what other republicans are calling his "bland and uninspiring speaking style."
Ironically, the politicization of Terri Schiavo and the play for evangelical voters looks like it may now cause Bill Frist more harm than good. The latest polls show Americans overwhelming against Congress getting involved in the case. And these were polls conducted BEFORE most Americans saw the fine print of the Congressional Schiavo bill. Despite the sweeping floor statements about "protecting life," the legislation itself did not require the federal courts to start by reinserting Schiavo's feeding tube. And while the bill does give the Schiavo family "jurisdiction and standing" to make an argument in federal court, take a look at Section 3 called "relief." Section 3 states, "After a determination of the merits of a suit brought under this Act, the District Court shall issue such declaratory and injunctive relief as may be necessary..." The key words are "after a determination..." Congress did not say the federal court must accept the merits of the lawsuit.
Based on what Schiavo's parents have been saying this week, it appears the legislation's fine print was never shared with them by Bill Frist or anybody else for that matter. Early Monday morning, after President Bush signed the Schiavo bill, Bob Schindler was positively beaming in front of the television cameras. He said he walked into his daughter's hospice room and told her, "We had to wake the President up to save your life."
Did Bill Frist and Tom Delay ever call the Schindler family and say, "not so fast?" Apparently not. In their latest court filing, the Schinder family still clings to the misleading notion offered by lawmakers last weekend that their bill required Schiavo's feeding tube to be immediately reinserted. Quote, "If Congress meant to give the federal courts the power to let her die..." says the Schindler's filing, then passing the law "would be little more than a cruel hoax." Read it again... The Schindlers argue: "If Congress meant to give the federal courts the power..." The fact is, that's exactly what Congress did. And a "cruel hoax" on Terry Schiavo's family is exactly the right description. As one of my doctor contacts observed, "This has always been about politics, not about helping Terri Schiavo or her parents."
What he said.
-The Oklahoma Hippy
Oh, if you want the link, it can be found here.
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