It has been almost ten years since the case of Terri Schiavo was argued in Florida courts.  In 1990, Terri Schiavo collapsed in her Florida home in full cardiac arrest.  She suffered brain damage due to lack of oxygen and as a result, could not make medical decisions for herself.  According to doctors, Ms. Schiavo was diagnosed as being in a vegetative state.  Several types of therapy were attempted, hoping her condition would improve. In 1998, Michael Schiavo, Terri’s husband and guardian, petitioned the Florida state courts to have her feeding tube removed.  Michael Schiavo argued that Terri would not have wanted life-prolonging measures including a feeding tube.  Ms. Schiavo’s parents opposed this arguing that she would want have wanted to continue life-prolonging measures.  A trial to determine her end of life wishes included eighteen witnesses.  This court battle went on until 2005, including appeals in the state and federal courts.  Ms. Schiavo ultimately passed on March 31, 2015, after her feeding tube was ordered removed.

As  noted above, this legal battle spanned fifteen years.  The sole question in this case was to determine what Terri’s wishes would have been regarding life-prolonging procedures.  With a comprehensive health care proxy and living will, Ms. Schiavo would have been the one to determine what her end of life wishes were.  Although a health care proxy probably would not have prevented disagreement between Terri’s parents and husband regarding the course of treatment, maybe the legal battle could have been avoided or minimized with proper planning.