La. Investigates Allegations of Euthanasia at Hospital
Autopsies Sought on 45 In Post-Katrina Inquiry
A guard keeps watch at Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans, where more than 40 bodies were recovered last month.
(By Rick Bowmer -- Associated Press)
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
Saturday, October 15, 2005
ST. GABRIEL, La., Oct. 14 -- Louisiana's attorney general is investigating allegations that medical staff at one New Orleans hospital euthanized some seriously ill elderly patients in the chaotic days after Hurricane Katrina, his spokeswoman confirmed Friday.
Attorney General Charles Foti has requested autopsies, including sophisticated toxicology tests, on 45 patients who died at Memorial Medical Center in the days surrounding the storm and its aftermath.
Hospital officials have described nightmarish conditions as floodwater rose, generators failed and gunshots were heard outside the medical center in the city's Uptown neighborhood. But they disputed charges they neglected patients and said at least 10 died before the storm.
Nearly seven weeks after Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, the Louisiana death toll Friday was 1,035 -- and rising, state coroner Louis Cataldie said in an emotional briefing. The tally does not include the remains of more than 1,000 caskets that were uprooted and emptied in the storms.
Every day, more bodies are delivered to the warehouse here that has been converted into a vast morgue. On Thursday, four people arrived from New Orleans's Lower Ninth Ward, a historic, predominantly black neighborhood that flooded twice.
"I wouldn't be surprised if I'm here six months from now," Cataldie said, reflecting on the arduous task of identifying bodies that in many cases were exposed to extreme heat or submerged in contaminated floodwater for weeks.
More than 200 bodies await autopsies, including the 45 from the hospital. It appears many people died from drowning, coroners said. At least eight were gunshot victims, though it was not clear how many were self-inflicted.
Beyond those broad outlines, little is known about the vast majority of Katrina's dead.
Just 132 of the deceased have been positively identified and their remains released to relatives. Of those 132, 42 percent were black; 43 percent, white; 3 percent, Hispanic; and 12 percent of unknown race. More than two-thirds lived in Orleans parish and one lived out of state.
Many of the earliest victims identified were elderly who died in a nursing home or hospital and most likely wore a medical bracelet. The list includes one child, 3-year-old Roy Williams, a black boy who lived in Orleans Parish, and several people with the same last name.
Another 120 have been identified, but officials are struggling to locate next of kin, many of whom dispersed to shelters, hotels, churches and apartments in other states, said Bob Johannessen, a spokesman for the state Department of Health and Hospitals.
In recent weeks, the coroners here, often in comparisons to the progress in Mississippi, have been criticized for the slow pace.
