Schiavo's Lessons for Health Attorneys When Good Law is All You Have: Reflections of the Special Guardian Ad Litem to Theresa Marie Schiavo.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2005

Abstract

Rarely have all the branches of federal and state government converged upon a single issue, a single person as they did in the tragic and acrimonious case of Theresa Maria Schiavo. In late 2003, the Florida Legislature passed what become known as "Terri's Law" and in Spring of 2005, Congress and the President of the United States sought to directly intervene in the care of the severely brain damaged woman. During that period, the state and federal court systems, through the highest courts in both venues, ruled on Ms. Schiavo's life, resulting in the removal of an artificial feeding tube and her death during Easter week. The legal and medical issues in this complex, politically and emotionally charged case continue to raise important questions for health attorneys. In this Article, Professor Wolfson, who served as the legislatively mandated, court appointed special guardian ad litem for Theresa Schiavo in late 2003, provides a distinctive first-person overview of the Schiavo case.

Was this content written or created while at USF?

Yes

Citation / Publisher Attribution

Journal of Health law, v. 38, issue 4, p. 535-586

Share

COinS