Sometimes fallout is a good thing

Blogger Straight Up with Sherri has been following the Terri Schiavo case closely an reports on an interesting and good fallout from this fiasco:

Agency Probes Group Homes' Deaths
The case of Terri Schiavo may be the wake-up call we have all needed:

Agency probes group homes' deaths
The deaths of four disabled Floridians are being investigated in light of cost-cutting changes in state nursing care.

A federally funded watchdog group is investigating the recent deaths of four disabled Floridians amid an aggressive campaign by the state to cut millions of dollars from programs that provide medical care for disabled people in community settings.

The case seems to focus on a few homes and a money-saving change made by the state:

No clients had ever died at either the Rockwood or Overland group homes before this fall, said Middell. The homes have been open since 2000.

''It takes a special kind of nurse to care for these people,'' Reed said.

Should the state have attempted to save money by changing nursing practices? ''Not if you want to keep people alive,'' said Reed.

It will depend on how much the state is interested in maintaining quality of life for indigent people, people whose family are not willing or able to take care of them. I bet one thing -- the state will pay more than twice the money it "saved" on damage controll...