Terri Schiavo And End-of-Life Issues

Terri Schiavo died last week, nearly two weeks after her feeding tube was removed. In this hour, we'll talk about the legal, medical and ethical lessons learned from the Terri Schiavo case. What does this case mean for future end-of-life decisions, and what can you do to ensure that your decisions about treatment are honored? Plus, is removing a feeding tube different from stopping other life-prolonging treatments? And how do doctors determine when there's no chance of recovering brain function?

Guests:

Gerry Maitland, M.D., professor, Department of Clinical Sciences. Director, clinical neuroscience, Florida State University College of Medicine. Director, rehabilitation, Tallahassee Memorial Hospital

Lois L. Shepherd, D'Alemberte professor of law, Florida State University College of Law

Jeffrey Spike, associate professor, Department of Medical Humanities and Social Sciences, The Florida State University

Susan Ponder-Stansel, president & CEO, Community Hospice of Northeast Florida