CNN.com posted an article that serves as a reminder of the horrors that occurred when Katrina hit. One story that keeps lingering — justifiably so — is the story of a Dr. Pou at a New Orleans hospital who decided to euthanize terminal patients rather than attempt to evacuate them.
The shocking revelation in the article is that some of the patients weren’t terminal — just “too difficult to move”, like one paralyzed man who weighed 380 lbs.
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The state investigative report obtained by CNN says that, in addition to King, at least one other doctor objected to the alleged plan to euthanize patients.
The report also notes that when a nurse indicated to Pou that he did not feel comfortable sedating one of the patients, Pou reportedly said to him: “If you don’t feel comfortable, or if you are not ready to do it, don’t, because it will come back to haunt you. I know the first time I did it, it haunted me for two years.”
The report gives the following accounts of the deaths of three patients in the Lifecare facility, who appeared, according to the report, to be conscious and responsive:
One Lifecare patient, Emmett Everett, was alert and aware, and, according to the summary of an interview with his primary care physician, “while Everett had a number of health issues, he was not in imminent danger of dying from those conditions and … had expressed a desire to live.” But since he weighed 380 pounds and was paralyzed, some felt he could not be evacuated. After some discussion on the seventh floor with a Lifecare administrator, the report says that Dr. Pou asked for a tray, and the Lifecare employees present left.
Lifecare’s director of physical medicine, identified in both the six-page summary and the 68-page report as Kristy Johnson, told investigators that she “heard Dr. Pou tell patient Wilda McManus,
‘I’m going to give you something that’s going to make you feel better.’ ” The account continues: Johnson “later heard Dr. Pou say … ‘You know, I had to give her three doses, she’s fighting.’ ”
Johnson told investigators she heard another patient, Rose Savoie, say, “That burns,” after a nurse whom Johnson identified as Budo administered an injection.
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I know this may seem tangential, but given that we’re heading towards the end of year, this is a great time to donate (tax-deductible!) money to non-profits who are doing good work in New Orleans, like the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund. Heck, you can even throw a party to raise money for hurricane victims during the holidays.