Vindicated Katrina Doc Tells Her Story

Newsweek ^ | Aug 25, 2007 | Julie Scelfo

[Iwo Jima]

Maybe so. LOL. Were you trying to?

[BearCub]

Um, one again, they had many days to evacuate and chose not to.

I'm so sick of hearing about how crappy conditions were in N.O. after the hurricane. They had at least a hundred years' warning on what would happen if a hurricane hit yet they were completely unprepared. Sheesh.

[BearCub]

I don't know on what grounds she thinks that she is entitled to a defense from the state

I wonder if maybe there is some good samaritan law that says if you provide aid during a declared disaster then you're immune from civil lawsuits & the state will indemnify and defend you. Just an idea - not sure if it exists down there at all.

[Iwo Jima]

I don’t know. Could be.

[Melpomene]

Many patients could not be evacuated because the hospitals were unable to find other hospitals to take them. And in some cases the hospitals did not wish to foot the enormous expense of evacuating critical and fragile patients.

[hocndoc]

I imagine that witnesses will be lining up. Maybe they’ll let us send emails.

[Mamzelle]

re: And in some cases the hospitals did not wish to foot the enormous expense of evacuating critical and fragile patients.)))

Not to mention the risk of criminal liability, EMTALA, etc.

[Mamzelle]

You've harped a good bit on the "opportunity" Pou supposedly had to do murder...like a successful surgeon, with a good reputation, in a particularly scarce field is just chomping at the bit to do a sudden Kervorkian.

What about motive? I fail to understand what motive Dr. Pou would have to intentionally kill someone. I can fully understand why she might accidently do so, but where do you get the intent?

And I positively don't understand why you insist on such an extreme interpretation of the limited facts.

She could have abandoned the patients--and the fact that she did not do so ought to earn her at least the benefit of a doubt before evidence more convincing than what you've presented emerges.

Here's another factor--You have boasted before of your many dealings with defending and suing doctors, have you not noticed the difference between a diagnostician who manages patients, and the surgeon who is a highly developed technician? Surgeons don't much manage patient care; they perform procedures. Pou performs surgeries in clean operating rooms with anesthesiologists and anesthetists who take care of keeping patients unconscious--

But in an emergency situation, I'd hope for a Dr. Pou around rather than no doctor at all, which was the alternative.

You can make a good argument that in the dark and the distress, she did not do a good job of dosage.

But I just don't see where you get the intent to murder.

[LadyDoc]

that was my point: They had three days to evacuate but didn’t.

As for the woman who died during evacuation: what, only one?
well so what else is new? I’ve had several patients die waiting for the helicopter or during the trip to the hospital.

And the engineers who put the emergency generator in the basement need to be sued.
Most hospitals have a disaster plan and a triage plan. The really really sick people are put in the corner and given morphine to keep them comatose so they don’t suffer, not killed.

[Rembrandt]

“I know that many will disagree with me on this..”

I agree with you, assuming the good Doc’s name is Doctor God.

[hocndoc]

They evacuated 2000 people, all told, from Memorial: patients, neighbors, employees and the family members of all of the above who took shelter or joined loved ones in the hospital as the water rose.

Hopefully, most hospitals have some sort of plan, now, but those plans don’t seem to stand up well.

I heard several talks from the ethicists from the Houston Medical Center at the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities. Katrina and Rita affected them, too, beyond the evacuees that they received before and even after they knew they’d be at risk. Virtually the whole area is below sea level, and tons of people besides patients suddenly showed up for refuge or family members were brought in by the docs and nurses who showed up for work. The management at the hospital hadn’t anticipated the numbers of people, the need for clothing, showers, food, etc., for local refugees.

Then there’s the medicine. Evidently, the supply of insulin at Dr. Pou’s hospital was stressed by those 2000 people. They had excess morphine, but were at risk on insulin.

One of the RN’s tearfully told us that the real lesson to learn is that in a catastrophe of this size, “no one’s coming - you’re on your own.”