THE SERIOUS HARMFUL PAINFUL EFFECTS ON THE BODY AS A RESULT
OF STARVATION /DEHYDRATION OF THE PATIENT???as in the
new legal Mental Capacity law in Britain? NO TO EUTHANASIA....
NO TO EUTHANASIA.... NO TO EUTHANASIA...???
Helen Valois
March 29, 2006
When one reads stories about Terri Schindler-Schiavo,
one often encounters a timeline which places her on
a continuum with Karen Ann Quinlan and Nancy Cruzan.
It is difficult, however, to understand why these cases
are thought to be related. Quinlan's parents removed
a respirator, not a feeding tube, from their daughter.
"When asked if he also wanted her intravenous feeding
ended, her father said, 'Oh, no, this is her nourishment!'"
according to Nat Henthoff [1]. In Nancy Cruzan's case,
it was her own parents who, unlike the
Schindlers, fought to kill their daughter. Instructively,
Joe Cruzan, Nancy's father, also killed himself shortly
thereafter. So as we ponder the meaning of Terri's execution-by-court-order
this week, why not situate it in the context of precedents
that are more pertinent?
Take the case of Paul Brophy, for instance.
A firefighter who suffered a ruptured blood vessel at
the base of the brain, Brophy was being fed by tube and
was diagnosed, amidst medical controversy on this point,
as being in a "persistent vegetative state."
His wife Patricia went to court to have the tube removed,
on the grounds that: "My husband is not the man I
married . . . In essence his life is over. . . . There
is no quality of life." [2] Sound familiar?
If reporters wanted to bring up cases that would truly
shed light on the Schindler-Schiavo situation, they
might direct our attention to scenes like this one,
that occurred during the Brophy trial [3]:
There was another thing the judge wanted
to know. If he ruled that all nutrition and hydration
should be stopped, what would happen to Paul Brophy? He
would die within five days to three weeks. But how would
he die?
In his findings of fact, the trial judge, David Kopelman,
listed the effects 'Brophy's body would be likely to
experience' if he were to be deprived of all nutrition
and hydration.
This is what the judge found out:
* His mouth would dry out and become
caked or coated with thick material.
* His lips would become parched and cracked
or fissured.
* His tongue would become swollen and
might crack.
* His eyes would sink back into their
orbits.
* His cheeks would become hollow.
* The mucosa (lining) of his nose might
crack and cause his nose to bleed.
* His skin would hang loose on his body
and become dry and scaly.
* His urine would become highly concentrated,
causing burning of the bladder.
* The lining of his stomach would dry
out, causing dry heaves and vomiting.
* He would develop hyperthermia, a very
high body temperature.
* His brain cells would begin drying
out, causing convulsions.
* His respiratory tract would dry out,
giving rise to very thick secretions, which could plug
his lungs and cause death.
* Eventually his major organs would fail,
including his lungs, heart, and brain.
* VERY INHUMANE...VERY INHUMANE...VERY
INHUMANE..!
This information disturbed the judge. So did testimony
by Dr. Richard Field, the chief of staff at New England
Sinai Hospital, where Paul Brophy was a patient. Dr.
Field was asked if he had ever seen a person dehydrate
and starve to death..............
FOR MORE DETAILS:
Please go to the website:
www.renewamerica.us/columns/valois/060329
From Dr Katme