From MSNBC:
A doctor and two nurses were arrested overnight in connection with the deaths of patients at a New Orleans hospital in the days following Hurricane Katrina, the Louisiana attorney general’s office said Tuesday.“We’re not calling this euthanasia. We’re not calling this mercy killings. This is second-degree murder,” said Kris Wartelle, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Charles C. Foti.
[snip]
Harry Anderson, a spokesman for Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare Corp., said the allegations against the medical care workers, if proven true, were disturbing.
“Euthanasia is repugnant to everything we believe as ethical health care providers, and it violates every precept of ethical behavior and the law. It is never permissible under any circumstances,” Anderson said.
Sad…
Polimom’s finding it very hard to condemn the actions of the folks who were in that hospital. Even if these health care professionals did what they’re accused of, the chaos and despair in the days following the storm were, I believe, impossible to judge for anyone watching from outside.
From WaPo:
Foti had subpoenaed more than 70 people last fall in an investigation into rumors that medical personnel at Memorial Medical Center had euthanized patients who were in pain after the hurricane as they waited in miserable conditions for rescue.
The mother of Dr. Anna Pou, who was among the three arrested, said Tuesday she was distressed by the treatment of her daughter.
“Medicine was the most important thing in her life and I know she never ever did anything deliberately to hurt anyone,” Jeanette Pou said in a telephone interview.
I think you had to be there.
Other opinions from TMV: More Katrina Victims and Rightly So: 3 Arrests Katrina Hospital Deaths.
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Update: In light of the very strong opinions surfacing around this incident, here’s a round-up:
Gina Cobb:
Let the case unfold as it will, and we’ll follow where the evidence leads.
I’ve previously written that I have some sympathy for the situation faced by both patients and doctors in this hospital after Hurricane Katrina. Although I’m generally opposed to euthanasia in any form on the theory that where there is life there is hope, the situation in this hospital in the days after Hurricane Katrina sounds a bit like a case of “lifeboat ethics” in which there were no good alternatives and tough moral and practical choices had to be made without the benefit of time and space for quite, objective reflection.
I have my opinion, but obviously it’s impossible to know for sure right now. And as satisfying as it might feel to lay these deaths on “Bushitler,” “Chocolateville” Nagin, the Corps of Engineers, the “Party of Death” or any other entity on the political landscape, none of that rhetoric will bring the accused or the families of the victims any closer to justice.
[…] Secondly, how many of the prosecutors were in that hospital that week? How many of them braved the 100+ degree heat, rising water, decreasing food and water supply, lack of electricity and dying patients and those screaming in agony for it to end or for help they couldn’t provide? The one guy who says this happened, one Dr. King, bailed out early and didn’t stay through it all. He also says he “heard” discussion of putting people out of their misery but didn’t witness ANY wrongdoings, according to EVERY article I’ve read.
And Rightly So… (in addition to the earlier post linked above):
Those sick patients were going to die anyway, sadly. They should have allowed that to happen naturally. Instead of playing God.
blackprof.com provides some snippets about some of the people involved.
Adrastos:
No crimes were committed at Memorial Hospital last fall. The doctors and nurses did the best they could in truly horrible conditions. They were stranded at that hospital for nearly a week and inevitably some of the sickest patients died. It’s a tragedy but whatever happened at the hospital, no crimes were committed.
This case does not present much of a legal dilemma, if Foti’s statements are correct. The law against killing people is pretty cleanly spelled out. The moral dilemma is another thing, though. I have tried to explain to those who love me that I do not fear death at all. What I fear is agonizing pain. I would make a very bad spy or mafiosa. The minute the torturers start using mean words with me, I will spill everything I know and then start making stuff up. I don’t believe it taking a Tylenol if I can just as easily take a muscle relaxer. If I ever come down with a painful terminal disease, the first thing I want to do is get addicted to the pain medication and stay that way.
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