Doctor, nurses charged with post-Hurricane Katrina killings

NEW ORLEANS - A doctor and two nurses at a New Orleans hospital have been charged with murder for giving lethal injections to four patients during evacuations after Hurricane Katrina, the state attorney general said today.

Dr. Anna Pou and nurses Lori Budo and Cheri Landry each face four counts of second-degree murder in the September 1 deaths in which the victims were injected with lethal doses of morphine and anti-anxiety drug midazolam.

Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti said even with the horrendous conditions in the flooded city, where thousands were stranded without food, water and basic necessities, there was no excuse for the deaths.

"This is not euthanasia. This is plain and simple homicide," Foti told reporters.

More than 200 sick and elderly patients in area nursing homes and hospitals died in the chaotic days and weeks after the August 29 hurricane.

Witnesses have said conditions at Memorial Hospital deteriorated quickly as temperatures rose above 38 degrees C inside the building and the sanitation system broke down.

Foti said in a statement more charges could be filed but did not elaborate.

The three were arrested on Monday night, the attorney general's office said. The defendants' lawyers were not immediately available for comment, but were expected to issue a statement later in the day.

The four victims, who were not named but whose ages were given as 62, 67, 90 and 91, were residents of a long-term care facility within the hospital run by LifeCare Hospitals.

Despite the dire conditions at the hospital, which was being evacuated, the four were not in immediate danger, Foti said.

"I think the patients would have lived," Foti said.

Foti in October issued 73 subpoenas for hospital employees after dozens died in the medical centre. He said his office was investigating allegations from abandonment of patients to euthanasia, or mercy killings, at six hospitals and 13 nursing homes in the state.

Although the charges were filed by state officials, prosecution of Pou, Budo and Landry was expected to be transferred to the New Orleans district attorney.

Tenet Healthcare Corp., which owns Memorial Medical Centre, said last month it intended to sell four of its five hospitals in New Orleans. On Tuesday, the company said it struck a deal to sell three hospitals, including Memorial, to Oschner Health System.

Its statement said euthanasia was "repugnant" and that if any such decision was made by the three employees arrested, it was done without the knowledge of their superiors.

- REUTERS