Court tosses disgraced guardian Rebecca Fierle’s appeal of ruling she misused DNRs

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For a second time, a panel of judges has dismissed an appeal by former Orlando guardian Rebecca Fierle, who sought to quash an Orange County judge’s order finding she violated state rules by misusing “do not resuscitate” orders on incapacitated clients.

The Fifth District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach on Thursday tossed Fierle’s appeal, in which she argued Circuit Judge Janet C. Thorpe overstepped when she wrote in a Sept. 12 order that she had “no confidence in Ms. Fierle’s actions, reliability, or truthfulness as a professional guardian.”

“This court finds probable cause to permanently remove Rebecca Fierle from any appointment in Orange County as a professional guardian,” Thorpe wrote.

The embattled guardian, who had overseen hundreds of wards across the state, was arrested last month on charges of aggravated abuse and neglect of an elderly person in the death of 75-year-old Steven Stryker, an incapacitated client who died at a Tampa hospital in May.

Medical staff were unable to attempt to save his life because Fierle had signed a DNR order against his wishes and the protests of his daughter, health-care surrogate and psychiatrist.

The court-appointed decision maker later admitted to routinely filing DNRs on her wards.

Fierle’s attorney, Harry Hackney, argued in the rejected appeal that Thorpe’s decision should be reversed because she wrongly suggested the guardian needed permission from a judge or family members before signing a DNR for a ward.

“[Fierle] can consult family and friends to discern what the ward would have done when competent,” Hackney argued. “She is NOT required to get their permission nor the court’s.”

Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office called that a “strawman argument.” Thorpe did not object to Fierle signing DNRs on behalf of incapacitated clients but rather to her doing so against wards’ wishes, like in Styker’s case, said Senior Assistant Attorney General William H. Stafford III.

“The circuit court found probable cause that [Fierle] failed to act in the best interest of at least one of her wards by signing a DNR, not that court approval was required in all instances,” Stafford wrote.

In November, the appeals court denied a separate petition by Hackney that sought to remove Thorpe from the case.

Hackney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

The Stryker case embroiled Florida’s guardianship system in scandal. Since Fierle resigned from all cases statewide in July, further investigations have found she mismanaged wards’ fiances, double-billed for services and improperly billed AdventHealth Orlando for nearly $4 million in unauthorized payments.

A series of Orlando Sentinel special reports exposed gaps in Florida’s guardianship system, including potential conflicts of interest on committees that determine whether a person should be placed under guardianship and loopholes that allow guardians to seek their own appointments, despite state law generally requiring a rotation system.

State lawmakers passed legislation Wednesday to fix those flaws by requiring guardians to get a judge’s approval before signing DNRs on behalf of incapacitated clients, prohibiting them from seeking their own appointment to specific cases and revising provisions related to conflicts of interest.

If signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the law would go into effect July 1.

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Court tosses disgraced guardian Rebecca Fierle’s appeal of ruling she misused DNRs

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