Saw this earlier: ~~ Most of Terri Schiavo's Malpractice Settlement Has Already Been Spent
The Associated Press
Mar 26, 2005
Michael Schiavo sued medical professionals who he said failed to recognize symptoms that caused his wife's heart to stop beating, causing her brain damage, and won a $1 million settlement. But attorneys say most of the money is gone, spent on her care and legal bills:
-More than half of the $700,000 earmarked from the malpractice award for Terri Schiavo's care has been spent for that purpose, with the rest going toward litigation, said Deborah Bushnell, one of Michael Schiavo's attorneys.
-As of mid-March, just $40,000 to $50,000 remained of that money, Bushnell said, and was held in a trust fund. A judge approves all expenditures, from attorneys' fees to the woman's haircuts.
-Bushnell said she has been paid $80,309 since getting involved in the case in 1993. George Felos, who was hired by Michael Schiavo around the time he began the effort to remove his wife's feeding tube in 1998, has been paid $358,434, she said. Neither attorney has petitioned the court for payment since 2002.
-Terri Schiavo has stayed for free at the Woodside Hospice - part of a not-for-profit hospice network - because she was considered indigent, Bushnell said.
-Terri Schiavo's medical costs - which Bushnell says are relatively small - have been paid for the past couple of years by the state's Medicaid program for needy people.
-Michael Schiavo got about $300,000 in the malpractice case, but Bushnell said she did not know how it was spent or if any is left.
AP-ES-03-26-05 1407EST
This story can be found at: ap.tbo.com |
