Boston University School of Public Health

On March 31, 2005, Terri Schiavo dies in a Florida hospice after a lengthy legal battle over the brain-damaged woman's fate. The case pitted her husband, who wanted her feeding tube removed, against her parents, who fought to keep her alive. It moved into the political arena when Congress and the president urged federal courts to intervene.

On March 31, 2006, medical experts, lawyers, and health law scholars gather for our second annual Health Law Program conference examining the state of the law governing medical decision-making one year after the case of Terri Schiavo.

The conference examines whether the case of Terri Schiavo, viewed from the perspective of one year later, offers any lessons for the conduct of politics, the practice of medicine, the use of medical evidence in the courtroom, reporting in the media, and the principles and practice of law.