Schiavo Effect Debated

As discussed earlier on this blog, March 31, 2005 was the first anniversary of Terri Schiavo’s death.

Whether the initial impact of this case will have any real effect on the general public is uncertain.  Here are some excerpts from Kim Painter, A year after Schiavo’s death, “living will’ quandary remains, USA Today, April 3, 2006, at 6D:

Since [her death], nearly 2 million people have downloaded forms for advance directives (living wills and other documents that spell out treatment preferences and designate decision-makers) from http://www.caringinfo.org, a website set up by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization; another 50,000 have asked for the forms after calling the group’s support line (800-658-8898). * * *

[But, a problem still remains.] For one thing, many people still have not completed basic first steps. “I fear a lot of people are just downloading these papers and then just letting them sit on their desks,” says J. Donald Schumacher, president and chief executive of the hospice group.  Others, he says, fill out the paperwork, but then don’t share copies — and have vital conversations about them — with family members and physicians.