Thompson Finds Reason to Discuss Schiavo Case
Thompson Finds Reason to Discuss Schiavo Case
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TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 22 — In his public life, former Senator Fred D. Thompson has long refrained from speaking about the death of his daughter from an accidental drug overdose in 2002, an episode that friends and colleagues say played into his decision not to seek re-election to the Senate in 2002.
But on Monday, when questioned at a news conference about his reaction to the Terri Schiavo case, Mr. Thompson opened up about the death, suggesting the Schiavo matter had particular resonance for him because of how his daughter, Elizabeth Panici, known as Betsy, had died.
“Obviously, I knew about the Schiavo case,” he said. “I had to face a situation like that in my own personal life with my own daughter.”
Mr. Thompson was visibly flustered by the question.
“I am a little bit uncomfortable about that because it is an intensely personal thing with me,” he said. “These things need to be decided by the family. And I was at that bedside. And I had to make those decisions with the rest of my family.”
Mr. Thompson was asked about the Schiavo case on a visit to Florida shortly after he announced his candidacy in September, and his apparent lack of familiarity with the matter led some to question how familiar he was with important issues as he embarked on his presidential run.
“I can’t pass judgment on it. I know that good people were doing what they thought was best,” he said at the time. “That’s going back in history. I don’t remember the details of it.”
The case revolved around whether Ms. Schiavo’s husband had the right to remove her feeding tube after 15 years. A Republican-led Congress passed a bill to compel doctors to reinsert the tube. The case wound its way up to the Supreme Court, which found in Mr. Schiavo’s favor in 2005.
Mr. Thompson’s daughter suffered from bipolar disorder and died from an accidental drug overdose, according to hospital records obtained by The Tennessean in Nashville at the time.
Mr. Thompson released an angry statement then, saying that the newspaper’s report was “unfortunate.”
“Every public official has to understand there’s a price you pay, and for the most part it’s appropriate,” he said at the time. “But there are lines to be drawn.”
Toxicology tests ordered by the medical examiner showed that Ms. Panici had six times the lethal level of hydrocodone, a painkiller, in her blood when she arrived at the hospital, according the Tennessean report.
Hospital personnel revived her, but she never regained consciousness. Six days after she was brought to the hospital, she was pronounced dead.
Mr. Thompson did not say who ultimately made the decision to remove her from life support or even that she was on life support, although he clearly left the impression that she had been.
“I will assure you one thing,” he said. “No matter which decision you make, you will never know whether or not you made exactly the right decision.”
He said he would not talk about the Schiavo case any more, saying his position was clear.
“Making this into a political football is something that I don’t welcome, and this will probably be the last time I ever address it,” he said. “It should be decided by the families — the federal government and the state government too, except for the court system, ought to stay out of those matters as far as I am concerned.”
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