INVESTIGATION FINDS NO EVIDENCE OF CRIME

Clearwater Police Criminal Investigations Detectives concluded today an expansive and detailed investigation into suspicions that physical harm done with criminal intent had been visited upon a 40-year-old woman under the care of Hospice in Clearwater.

The investigation found no evidence of harm, injury or violation as the result of a criminal act, said Police Chief Sid Klein.

The Hospice patient, Mrs. Theresa M. Schiavo, was the subject of investigative, forensic and medical scrutiny after concern was expressed for her well-being on March 29, 2004.

At about 3:30 that Monday afternoon - as Mrs. Schiavo's feeding regimen commenced - a Hospice employee noticed some marks on Mrs. Schiavo's arms, and shared her observations with a Hospice supervisor at the Park Place assisted living facility, 2750 Drew Street. Concerns were heightened by the position of a plastic hospital bracelet on Mrs. Schiavo's forearm; the positioning of a plastic feeding tube wrapped around the chair in which she was sitting; and the discovery of a small, purple medical apparatus, initially described as a "needle cap."

(The lavender object, manufactured by a New York medical supply company called Qosina, is not a hypodermic needle cap, but rather a hollow, open-ended polypropylene "catheter syringe tip adapter" - called a Luer, part # 41501 - and is used as a plastic tubing connector in medical feeding and irrigation setups; it has no application for injection).

The Hospice supervisor notified Mrs. Schiavo's husband, Michael, who called his attorney and his wife's physician, Dr. Stanton Tripodis. The physician examined Mrs. Schiavo at Park Place, and authorized her transfer to Mease Hospital in Dunedin for an examination. Various procedures, including toxicology tests for the presence of unauthorized drugs, proved negative, and Mrs. Schiavo was returned to Hospice care.

Clearwater Police Detectives conducted numerous interviews with family members, physicians, Hospice employees and others. The Mease Hospital attending physician found nothing untoward about the marks on Mrs. Schiavo's arm, nor did her personal physician. Neither physician quantified the marks on her upper arm as evidence of an injection; the origin of these specific marks is undetermined.

Although Detectives cannot say conclusively what caused the other marks, it's believed they could have been the result of a apparatus called a "Hoyer Lift," used to move a patient from a reclining position on a bed to a sitting position in a chair.

The plastic hospital bracelet, a rigid band of plastic, may have worked itself up her forearm toward her elbow since Mrs. Schiavo's arms are often contracted upward.

The feeding tube and its position was examined by Hospice employees when concerns were initially expressed, and subsequently by investigators: there was no indication of leakage; detectives found no indication of intentional manipulation; the monitor warning alarm was never activated, nor was the feeding ever interrupted.

Detectives identified the lavender piece of plastic found in Mrs. Schiavo's clothes as a tubing connector, and had an independent company (National Medical Services of Willow Grove, Pennsylvania) conduct chemical and gas examinations of swabs taken from the Luer adapter. The test results were negative for foreign substances.

The Clearwater Police Department found no evidence of criminal activity, no indication of attempted criminal activity, and no harm done to Mrs. Schiavo. The investigation has concluded.

All inquiries regarding this investigation should be directed to Public Information Officer Wayne Shelor at (727) 562-4333.

/s/
SID KLEIN
Chief of Police