Michael Schiavo To Sue Any Doctors Helping His Wife

CLEARWATER - Terri Schiavo was in stable condition late Wednesday and able to be released from the hospital.

But it will be several days before doctors know whether the 39-year-old woman's kidneys were damaged by going almost a full week without liquid nutrition supplied through a tube inserted in her stomach, said Deborah Bushnell, an attorney for husband Michael Schiavo.

The tube was reinserted on Gov. Jeb Bush's orders late Tuesday, Bushnell said. But the process was difficult because Terri Schiavo's treating physician resigned as soon as she was admitted to Morton Plant Hospital to be treated for dehydration and undergo the operation needed to insert the tube, the attorney said. The quest for a new physician was complicated by a warning issued by Michael Schiavo on Tuesday that he intended to sue any doctor who inserted a feeding tube or gave intravenous hydration to his wife, Bushnell acknowledged.

The lack of a treating physician also delayed Terri Schiavo's return to a Pinellas Park hospice until Wednesday evening, Bushnell said.

Guardian Ad Litem To Be Appointed

Also Wednesday, Chief Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge David Demers began the process of appointing a guardian ad litem to investigate the dispute between Michael Schiavo and in-laws Bob and Mary Schindler over whether Terri Schiavo's feeding tube should be removed permanently.

Michael Schiavo and the Schindlers have been locked in a court battle for more than five years over his contention that his brain-damaged wife would not want to be kept alive without hope of improvement.

Terri Schiavo has been in what most doctors term a persistent vegetative state since suffering unexplained heart failure in 1990 at age 26.

The Schindlers contend their daughter reacts to them and could improve if given therapy.

After a January 2000 nonjury trial, Circuit Judge George Greer ruled evidence showed Terri Schiavo made statements prior to her illness indicating she would not want to be kept alive in her current state. That ruling has been repeatedly upheld by appeals courts.

On Oct. 15, Terri Schiavo's feeding tube was removed on court orders.

On Wednesday, Bob Schindler said he, his wife and their other children were coming down from the elation they experienced the day before, when the state Legislature passed an unprecedented bill giving Bush controversial power to override the court order that allowed the feeding tube's removal.

After their daughter was taken to the hospital to have the tube reinserted, the Schindler family was barred from visiting her or getting information on her condition. Permission to visit was restored late Wednesday.

Schindler said the inability to visit Wednesday underscored that Michael Schiavo is his daughter's legal guardian and makes the rules for in-laws he has not spoken to for 10 years.

"The reality of this is the only difference from yesterday and today is that Terri had a sword over her head," Schindler said. "Today we are still under visiting restrictions. Nothing has changed except the threat is gone. He is still calling the shots."

"Bigger Than Mike And Terri'

Bushnell said Michael Schiavo is wrestling with whether to continue his quest to carry out what he says are his wife's wishes.

Michael Schiavo spent the past week living at Hospice House Woodside and is "devastated" that Bush and the Legislature halted his effort to remove his wife from life support, Bushnell said. Now, he is faced with fighting not only for what he says are his wife's wishes but also for the separation of powers that he says was violated when the governor overruled a court order, the attorney said.

"This case was never groundbreaking" until Bush got involved, Bushnell said. "If Michael walks away, we as a state have this precedent. He is beginning to say to us "This is bigger than Mike and Terri,' " Bushnell said.

"He is trying to decide how much of a crusader he wants to be," she said.

Acting in response to what has become known as "Terri's Law," the chief circuit judge late Wednesday asked attorneys on both sides of the case to try to agree on a guardian ad litem to investigate the case and report back to Bush and Greer.

In his order, Demers said that if the two sides cannot pick an impartial guardian, he will appoint University of South Florida medical school Professor Jay Wolfson. The guardian ad litem will not replace Michael Schiavo as guardian but will have the power to order tests on Terri Schiavo without Michael Schiavo's permission.

Michael Schiavo has refused the Schindlers' request that their daughter be tested for the ability to swallow food. Such a test has not been performed for several years.