No Charges for Hurricane Katrina Doctor Accused of Murdering Patients

LifeSiteNews ^ | 7/25/07 | John Jalsevac

[wagglebee]

NEW ORLEANS, July 25, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A New Orleans grand jury decided Tuesday not to indict Dr. Anna Pou, a doctor who was accused of murdering four patients during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Pou had been charged by Louisiana's attorney general on 10 counts, including second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit second-degree murder.

Earlier this year two nurses who had admitted to administering lethal doses of medication to patients at the same medical center were offered immunity in return for their testimony before the grand jury.

Pou and the others have consistently claimed that while they did administer potentially lethal doses of medication to some patients at the Memorial Medical Center, they did so not to end the patients' lives, but to relieve unbearable pain.

Witnesses have dramatized the conditions at the medical center during the days following hurricane Katrina as being akin to a war zone. During that time whole sections of New Orleans were submerged in water, the city was without electricity, and the heat and humidity were stifling. Over 30 patients at the Memorial Medical Center died before the center was able to be evacuated some days later, some of them allegedly as a consequence of high doses of pain killers administered by Pou and the nurses.

"All of us need to remember the magnitude of human suffering that occurred in the city of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, so we can be assured that this never happens again and that no health care professional should ever be falsely accused in a rush to judgment," said Dr. Pou during a press conference following the announcement that she would not be indicted.

"Today's events are not a triumph, but a moment of remembrance for those who lost their lives in the storm and a tribute to all of those who stayed at their posts and served people most in need."

Pou told the press that upon hearing the news that the case against her would not go forward she was, "at home with my husband and I fell to my knees and thanked God."

Attorney-General Charles Foti, who charged Pou and the two nurses, has consistently declared his belief that the doctor and two nurses illegally killed their patients. "This was not euthanasia," Foti was quoted as saying when the details of the case first emerged. "This was homicide."

Foti said in announcing that he was filing charges against Pou and the nurses that he and his team of investigators, "spent almost 10 ½ months investigation and, after all of this, can only come to the conclusion that this crime has been committed."

The attorney general responded to the jury's recent decision saying, "I regret their decision."

"The dedicated employees of the attorney general's office have done their duty as required by federal and state law, and I am very proud of our efforts on behalf of the victims and their families," he said.

While Pou has garnered some significant public support, with some even praising her as a "hero" for her actions following Katrina, others have pointed out that cases like these are a slippery slope for the medical profession.

When the story about the actions of some medical personnel in New Orleans first broke in 2005, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition Executive Director Alex Schadenberg had responded, saying, "Not to mitigate the extreme nature of the circumstances, but the euthanasia cases in New Orleans unveils the very problem with legalizing euthanasia: Who makes the decision?"

"Hippocrates recognized the fact that physicians are capable of being healers and they are capable of being killers," Schadenberg explained. "In order to protect patients, Hippocrates declared that a physician must 'do no harm' to their patients. Euthanasia in New Orleans proves to the world how easy it is for people who consider euthanasia as an option, to go from being healers to killers."

While Pou has escaped indictment on criminal charges, however, civil suits have been taken out against her by the families of three of the patients who she was accused of murdering.

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Editorial: The Cruelest Irony of All - When "Those Who Heal You Will Kill You"
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jul/07071010.html

New Orleans Doctors Kill Patients Rather Than Leave Them to Looters, Then Flee
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/sep/05091205.html

Doctor Charged in Katrina Deaths Denies Committing Murder, Euthanasia
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/sep/06092502.html

Doctor and Two Nurses Arrested For Hurricane Katrina "Euthanasia" Nightmare
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jul/06071806.html

Court Documents: Hospital Gave Lethal Injections to Patients During Hurricane Katrina
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/jul/05071204.html

[hophead]

“There has been talk”

That is what serious murder charges are based on? “Talk”?

[Patton@Bastogne]

.


WaggleBee,


The doctor and nurses were NOT deliberately trying to "murder" the patients ...

Had "deliberate murder" been their goal, they would have put a 45 to the patients heads, and pulled the trigger ...

Or even better yet, the doctor and nurses would have SIMPLY LEFT THE HOSPITAL and ABANDONED the patients.


If it would have been one of my parents, or children, perhaps terminally ill in that post-Katrina New Orleans HELLHOLE (where I lived for 20 years) ... I would have felt much better knowing that my family member's suffering from Unbearable Pain, in the face of certain death ... was minimized ... and that the doctor's "extra" dose of pain medication would be "quite" acceptable.


BTW. I'm a Christian, too ...


Patton-at-Bastogne


.

[Iwo Jima]

I'm a lawyer and I would not take her business. But then I have ethical standards. And I know that a jury will not go for what she's selling.

Answer these questions for me:

Did they administer lethal doses of drugs or not? Yes or no?

Did these lethal doses of drugs cause the patients' death? Yes or no?

Were these lethal doses of drugs given in order to cause or hasten death? Yes or no?

Was there a lack of consent from the patients to use lethal doses of drugs? Yes or no? (I suppose that some were unable to consent due to their condition.)

If the answer to these questions is "yes," then I call it murder, not matter what justification the doctor has about how horrible the conditions were.

[hophead]

“A REAL bias against the sick elderly DOES exist in the medical community. I have had first hand experience with it. Past a certain age( even in normal conditions) the elderly are seen as less valuable and worthy of medical care.”

Wait until the Leftards get what THEY want with “national health care”. This will be standard procedure.

[Iwo Jima]

Yes, any doctor who claims the right to kill me is going to have problems with me.

[lndrvr1972]

You must be quoting from the Bostol Legal episode.

[P-40]

There has been talk that a phonecall was overheard ORDERING

It is kind of amazing how 'selective' those phones in New Orleans could be on whether or not they wanted to work after the storm. They must have been offered some sort of electronic post-storm welfare.

[Zevonismymuse]

I understand your frustration but I think it is pointless to argue with these people screaming “MURDER”. The healthcare providers did the best they could in a horrible situation. My heart goes out to them and their families. How awful for them to now be forced to defend their actions. Calling them “murderers” is a far greater sin than anything they have been accused of.

[hophead]

“Of course she walked- just exactly like the common, everyday thug who has killed on the street but isn’t prosecuted for lack of evidence and witnesses”

That is just a wrong and unfair analogy. What the hell happened to innocent until proven guilty? You too seem to be able to see into the heart and mind of those you accuse of murder. That is truly sad.

[Recovering Ex-hippie]

your post obviously shows you have no knowledge of medicine, caring for terminal patients, pain management or how a hospital is run in normal times and in crises.

therefore, I dismiss your Rant.

[Mamzelle]

Almost all drugs are either dangerous or lethal.

Pain medications can, under certain circumstances, hasten death.

No, they were not given with the intent of hastening death. They were given in the knowledge that they MIGHT hasten death. This is the reality of pain management.

As for consent, how about "get me out of this pain"?

As I am not under oath, nor under instruction from a judge, I don't have to answer the questions the way you want them answered.

[Iwo Jima]

Answer these questions for me:

Did they administer lethal doses of drugs or not? Yes or no?

Did these lethal doses of drugs cause the patients' death? Yes or no?

Were these lethal doses of drugs given in order to cause or hasten death? Yes or no?

Was there a lack of consent from the patients to use lethal doses of drugs? Yes or no? (I suppose that some were unable to consent due to their condition.)

If the answer to these questions is "yes," then I call it murder, not matter what justification the doctor has about how horrible the conditions were.

[hophead]

“But then I have ethical standards.”

Ethical standards? Kind of like Uday Hussein’s “ethical standards”?

[Recovering Ex-hippie]

LOL!!!!

More rants from the hysterical. Freeper has intelligent, rational posts...and then there are wacko, unintelligble posts. such is life. Enjoyed your sense of humor.

[Iwo Jima]

Pretty lame. It’s real clear to me that the doctor gave lethal doses of pain medication to kill the patients, not to control their pain, and without their knowledge or consent. That makes her a murderer, and you support that. So what does that make you?

[hophead]

Now I understand Iwo Jima. “I’m a lawyer”. No more to say.

[Iwo Jima]

Please answer these questions for me:

Did they administer lethal doses of drugs or not? Yes or no?

Did these lethal doses of drugs cause the patients' death? Yes or no?

Were these lethal doses of drugs given in order to cause or hasten death? Yes or no?

Was there a lack of consent from the patients to use lethal doses of drugs? Yes or no? (I suppose that some were unable to consent due to their condition.)

If the answer to these questions is "yes," then I call it murder, not matter what justification the doctor has about how horrible the conditions were.

[Recovering Ex-hippie]

Okay, MAYBE I will believe you are a lawyer.
doubtful, considering your rationales.

If you are a lawyer...you understand NOTHING about medicine and pain management...the other atty would wipe you out in 10 minutes. go back to real estate law.

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

A year after state Attorney General Charles Foti ordered the arrests of Dr. Anna Pou and two nurses on second-degree murder charges, the strange case drags on -- into the state and local election seasons. By Jason Berry Photo by Donn Young "One year is too long without justice and resolution. ... I witnessed firsthand their unwavering dedication and Herculean effort to save lives." — Kathy Green, a nurse who spearheaded a support group for nurses Lori Budo and Cheri Landry The crowd of several hundred that spilled out of the Peristyle at City Park for a 6 p.m. rally last Tuesday was every politician's dream: well-dressed, educated, sprinkled with nurses in green scrubs, doctors fresh from their rounds -- and not a major elected official in sight. The rally supporting Dr. Anna Pou marked the one-year anniversary of state Attorney General Charles Foti's famous press conference in Baton Rouge, carried live on CNN, in which he accused Pou and nurses Lori Budo and Cheri Landry of second-degree murder in the deaths of several patients at Memorial Medical Center, where the women worked in war-camp conditions during the harrowing days after Hurricane Katrina. Signs posted on columns and held aloft in the audience said a lot -- "Dr. Pou we are with you." "Heroes Not Criminals." "Jordan and Foti Gotta Go." After his news conference in Baton Rouge, Foti held what he no doubt hoped would be a celebratory fundraiser in a downtown New Orleans hotel. Public backlash was quick and decisive against the AG, however, by which time he had already handed the case off to New Orleans District Attorney Eddie Jordan, in whose jurisdiction the deaths occurred. With a staff beleaguered by surging drug homicides, Jordan moved slowly in taking the case to a grand jury. http://www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatch/2007-07-24/news_feat.php

[Spyder]

Amen! Nice to see there are a few logical heads on this thread. Pain management in the country has become damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

If a grand jury would usually indict a ham sandwich and they DIDN’T INDICT in this case, doesn’t that just scream that THERE WASN’T A CASE! (I’m not shouting at you, Mamzelle, but the idjits here who jump on every thread and parrot “culture of death, culture of death” without knowing squat about the situation and are totally ignorant of healthcare).