Family Awaits Schiavo Autopsy

The lawyer for Terri Schiavo's husband says he's confident the long-awaited autopsy report on the brain-damaged woman will show no evidence she was abused before she lapsed into a persistent vegetative state.

More than two months after Schiavo's death ended an internationally watched right-to-die battle, autopsy results on the 41-year-old brain damaged woman were to be made public Wednesday.

Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner Jon Thogmartin said he will release the autopsy results at an 11 a.m. news conference. Attorneys for Terri Schiavo's husband, Michael Schiavo, and parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, expect to get the report hours earlier.

Her parents, who fought their son-in-law in court for seven years over her fate, say they are hoping the autopsy can shed some light on what led to her collapse in February 1990.

Terri Schiavo, who most doctors said was in a persistent vegetative state, died March 31, nearly two weeks after the feeding tube keeping her alive was removed by a court order sought by her husband. The dispute reached the halls of Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court and made news around the world.
The cause of her collapse has never been definitely proven, but testimony in a 1992 civil trial indicated that she probably was suffering from an eating disorder that led to a severe chemical imbalance and a heart attack.

The Schindlers, though, don't believe she had an eating disorder and have accused Michael Schiavo of abusing his wife, a charge he vehemently denies.

Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, said the Schindlers continue to engage in a "smear campaign against Michael to deflect the real issues in the case, which were Terri's wishes and her medical condition."

"I think everyone who has followed the facts in this case knows there is no substance to those (abuse) charges, and I'm confident we're not going to hear anything differently from the medical examiner," Felos said.

Bill Pellan, chief investigator for the medical examiner's office, said Tuesday that Thogmartin reviewed police reports, medical records and other documents in trying to determine the cause of her brain damage. The issue of whether she was in a persistent vegetative state "will be addressed," Pellan said, although he would not comment further Tuesday.
"Our family would really like to know what caused Terri's collapse," Terri Schiavo's brother, Bobby Schindler, said. "I don't know what they can and can't find 15 years after the fact. If we could get some of our questions answered as to how Terri ended up the way she did, that would be helpful."

During the long legal battle, numerous abuse complaints made to state social workers were ruled unfounded.

Michael Schiavo convinced the courts his wife would not want to be kept alive artificially with no hope of recovery, contending that she made statements to that effect before her collapse.

Her parents doubt she had any such end-of-life wishes and also disputed that she was in a persistent vegetative state. They believed she could get better with therapy.