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Revision as of 06:21, 28 August 2009 editChris Chittleborough (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers9,016 editsm moved Anna Pou to Anna Pou case: This article is not about Dr Case, just about a failed murder case against her← Previous edit Revision as of 13:08, 28 August 2009 edit undoChris Chittleborough (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers9,016 edits Rewrite. See talk. Corrections, comments, improvements welcome. The categories especially need checking/fixing.Next edit →
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The '''Anna Pou case''' was a scandal arising from the deaths of four patients at the ] three days after the ] in 2005. In 2006, Louisiana Attorney General ] arrested Dr Anna Pou and two nurses, publicly stating that "his is a homicide". The case never went to trial. The charges have now been expunged and the state of Louisiana has agreed to pay Dr. Pou's legal fees.
'''Anna Maria Pou''' (born ])<ref>
{{cite news | author = Gwen Filosa | url = http://blog.nola.com/times-picayune/2007/07/foti_sued_by_doctor_accused_in.html | title = Foti sued by doctor accused in Memorial Hospital deaths | publisher = ] | date = ]]}}</ref>
is an associate professor in the Department of ] at the ]. The New Orleans surgeon was accused of administering lethal painkiller injections to four elderly or intensive-care patients at ] three days after the ] in that city. A year after her arrest in July 2006, the grand jury opted not to indict her on second degree murder charges, thus clearing her of criminal charges.


==During Katrina==
==The Lifecare Patients==
Dr. Pou, an associate professor in the Department of ] at the ], worked at Memorial Medical Center<ref>
The patients who Dr. Pou was accused of killing were patients of a company called Lifecare, which ran an acute care facility for the extremely ill. Dr. Pou and other medical staff were caring for these patients after the doctor assigned to care for them did not appear.<ref name = 60min>{{cite news | url = http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/21/60minutes/main2030603.shtml | author = Morley Safer | title = Katrina Doc Denies Mercy Killings | publisher = ] | date = 2006-09-24}}</ref>
The Memorial Medical Center has since changed ownership, and is now called the ].</ref>

during Katrina's landfall on Monday August 29. By Wednesday, the hospital was surrounded by floodwaters, without sanitation, running out of food, experiencing indoor temperatures up to 110°,<ref name=CNN051013>
An investigation of Dr. Pou began after Dr. Bryant King, a physician working at Memorial following the hurricane, publicly charged that one or more health care workers had killed patients, based on conversations with other health care workers. King told CNN that when he believed that a doctor was about to kill patients, he boarded a boat and left the hospital.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/10/12/katrina.hospital/index.html | title = Staff at New Orleans hospital debated euthanizing patients | author = Kathleen Johnston | publisher = ] | date = 2005-10-13}}</ref> King explained his actions in terms of his opposition to Pou's alleged actions, arguing "I`d rather be considered a person who abandoned patients than someone who aided in eliminating patients."<ref> CNN.com, 14 October 2005</ref>
{{cite news

|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2005/US/10/12/katrina.hospital/index.html
==Accusation==
|title=Staff at New Orleans hospital debated euthanizing patients
On Tuesday, ], Louisiana Attorney General ] arrested Pou (along with two nurses, Cheri Landry and Lori Budo), accused of being "a principal to second-degree murder" in the deaths of four patients at ] on 1 September 2005 in New Orleans, Louisiana in the days following ].
|author=Kathleen Johnston |publisher=] |date=October 13, 2005}}</ref>

and had no electricity.<ref name=ProPublica>{{cite web
The ] says Pou and the nurses "intentionally (killed)" Emmett Everett Sr., 61; Hollis Alford, 66; Ireatha Watson, 89; and Rose Savoie, 90, by administering or causing to be administered lethal doses of ] and/or ].<ref>{{cite news | author = James Varney | url = http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1154844156102520.xml&coll=1 | title = Doctor's drug mix not ideal killer: Evidence in Memorial case called unreliable | publisher = ] | date = ]]}}</ref> According to Kristy Johnson, LifeCare's director of physical medicine, Pou told these patients that she was administering drugs to make them "feel better."<ref name=ProPublica>{{cite web
|title=Strained by Katrina, a Hospital Faced Deadly Choices |title=Strained by Katrina, a Hospital Faced Deadly Choices
|http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/magazine/30doctors.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=print |http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/magazine/30doctors.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=print
|author=Sherry Fink |publisher=] and ] |author=Sherry Fink |publisher=] and ]
|date=August 30, 2009}}</ref> |date=August 30, 2009}}</ref>
The staff decided to evacuate the hospital. Patients on upper floors had to be carried down the stairs, and those evacuated by helicopter had to be carried up more stairs to the helipad on a separate building; several patients died while being moved. By Friday, about 2,000 patients, families and staff had been evacuated "under incredibly difficult circumstances".<ref name=CNN051013/>
One patient, in particular, Mr. Everett was alert and in the hospital for a bowel obstruction, a non-life threatening condition. Pou administered the lethal cocktail of drugs because Everett was a paraplegic and weighed over 300 pounds; for these reasons, she didn't think the staff could reasonably assist him in the evacuation.<ref name=ProPublica/>


===LifeCare patients===
==Coroner's Report, Grand Jury==
The seventh floor at Memorial was leased to LifeCare Hospitals of New Orleans. LifeCare provides intensive care for severely ill patients, aiming to improve their health to the point that they no longer need hospital care.<ref name=ProPublica/> Many of LifeCare's patients at Memorial were especially affected by the loss of electric power. None of LifeCare's doctors were present at Memorial during Katrina, so Memorial's doctors were in charge of LifeCare's patients.<ref name=60Min>
In February 2007, seven months after Dr. Pou's arrest, the case against her and the two nurses appeared more questionable after the Orleans Parish Coroner, Dr. Frank Minyard, announced that he had classified the patient deaths at Memorial as "undetermined," which means that on available evidence he cannot classify the deaths as due to homicide or natural causes. Minyard told the media that he had retained some of the nation's leading experts as consultants in the case.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-7/117031723220570.xml&coll=1 | author = Jeffrey Meitrodt | title = N.O. coroner finds no evidence of homicide | publisher = ] | date = 2007-02-01}}</ref>
{{cite news
|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/21/60minutes/main2030603.shtml
|author1=Daniel Schorn
|author2=]
|title=Katrina Doc Denies Mercy Killings
|publisher=] |date=Aug. 15, 2007}}</ref>


==Investigation==
Nonetheless, the coroner's determination does not bar the district attorney from seeking an indictment, and in mid-February 2007, District Attorney Eddie Jordan's office proceeded with plans to impanel a grand jury to investigate the deaths at Memorial. Jordan's office stated that rather than using the grand jury in a perfunctory manner, as is usual in modern practice, it planned to use the grand jury as an active investigative tool and subpoena witnesses. Jordan's office declined to provide information on the grand jury's schedule or how long it expected the investigation to take.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=6089207 | title = Grand jury selected for Memorial Medical deaths | publisher = ] | date = 2007-02-15}}</ref>
On September 13, mortuary workers later recovered forty-five bodies from the hospital.<ref name=ProPublica/> In the following weeks, it was reported that staff had discussed euthanizing patients. Some reports went further. Dr Bryant King, an internist at Memorial, told CNN that he believed that "the discussion of euthanasia was more than talk."<ref name=CNN051013/> LifeCare told the state Attorney General's office that nine of their patients might "have been given lethal doses of medicines by a Memorial doctor and nurses."<ref name=ProPublica/>


At the request of the Louisiana AG's office, Orleans Parish Coroner Frank Minyard investigated the deaths. Experts reported abnormal levels of ],] (Versed), and/or ] in several bodies.<ref name=TP060806>
The grand jury was sworn in on 6 March 2007, and prosecutors took the unusual step of having its meetings at an undisclosed location (i.e. away from the courthouse), in order to prevent the media from observing the identity of witnesses coming and going. The grand jury was selected to deal solely with the Memorial case, rather than the dozens to hundreds grand juries normally hear; and prosecutors stated it could hear testimony for months.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tpupdates/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_tpupdates/archives/2007_03_06.html | title = Grand jury starts work in Memorial case | publisher = ] | date = 2007-03-06}}</ref> The unusual moves prompted legal observers to speculate the district attorney considered the evidence ambiguous and wanted to be able to assure the public of a thorough investigation if he decided to drop the case without bringing formal charges. Loyola University Law Professor Dane Ciolono told the media, "Doing it this way certainly speaks to the ambiguity of the evidence and the prosecutor's deliberation as to whether to seek an indictment.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;. Or it could be that he's made up his mind that he does not want to bring charges and wants the grand jury to provide his cover."<ref> Associated Press, 8 March 2007</ref>
{{cite news
|url=http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1154844156102520.xml&coll=1
|title = Doctor's drug mix not ideal killer: Evidence in Memorial case called unreliable
|author=James Varney |publisher=]
|date=August 6, 2006}}</ref>
In many cases, the experts said, the levels indicated homicide. (Another expert, Dr. Steven Karch, later disputed that conclusion.)<ref name=ProPublica/>


On July 17, 2006, Pou and nurses Lori Budo and Cheri Landry were arrested (but not formally charged<ref name=AP070308>
The Grand Jury proceedings took several months to complete. Near the end of March 2007, Pou's attorney Rick Simmons told the media that a decision on indictments could take until the end of April. Both sides were involved in extensive investigations: Simmons himself planned to interview a grand total of about 2,000&nbsp;people in the case.<ref> Modern Healthcare, 27 March 2007</ref>
{{cite news
|url=http://media.www.thenichollsworth.com/media/storage/paper262/news/2007/03/08/News/Grand.Jury.To.Investigate.Hospital.Deaths-2769053.shtml
|title=Grand Jury to investigate hospital deaths
|author=Mary Foster |publisher=]
|date=March 8, 2007}}</ref>)
in connection with the deaths of four LifeCare patients. State Attorney General ] announced the arrests the next day, at a widely televised news conference. "This is a homicide; it is not euthanasia," he said.<ref name=TP070716>
{{cite news
|url= http://blog.nola.com/times-picayune/2007/07/foti_sued_by_doctor_accused_in.html
|title = Foti sued by doctor accused in Memorial Hospital deaths
|author=Gwen Filosa |publisher=] |date=July 16, 2007}}</ref>
As a '']'' reporter put it,<ref name=TP070716/> the arrests "ignited a furious debate in New Orleans and elsewhere about whether sharp ethical boundaries can be drawn around decisions on patient comfort made in a crisis."

Later that year, ''The Times Picayune'' reported that the drug mixture that Pou supposedly used was much better suited to pain relief than causing death.<ref name=TP070716/>

] aired a report on the case in September 2006. In an interview, Pou told Morley Safer:<ref name=60Min>
:"No, I did not murder those patients. Mr. Safer, I've spent my entire life taking care of patients."

In February 2007, Minyard issued his report on the deaths of the four LifeCare patients. He was not able to determine a cause of death in any of the cases, leaving them classified as "undetermined".<ref name=
{{cite news
|url=http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-7/117031723220570.xml&coll=1
|title=N.O. coroner finds no evidence of homicide: Memorial doctor still faces grand jury in 4 deaths
|author=Jeffrey Meitrodt |publisher=]
|date=February 1, 2007}}</ref>

In March 2007, a state Grand Jury was sworn in to consider the Memorial case. Unlike a normal Grand Jury, this one dealt with just one case, and functioned as an investigation instead of reviewing evidence.

==Conclusion==
After several months, the Grand Jury declined to indict any of the suspects on any of the charges.<ref name=WDSU070725>
{{cite news
|url=http://www.wdsu.com/news/13744299/detail.html
|'Dark Cloud' Lifted From Pou, Attorney Says: Grand Jury Declines To Indict Doctor In Hospital Deaths
|publisher=] |date=July 25, 2007}}</ref>


Since then, the charges have since been expunged, the state of Louisiana has agreed to pay Pou's legal fees (over $450,000) and several Louisiana lawmakers have apologized for the accusations against Dr. Pou.<ref name=AP090701>
==Cleared of charges==
On ], ] it was announced that a Louisiana grand jury declined to indict Pou.<ref> July 24, 2007</ref> The charges have since been expunged, and the state of Louisiana will pay Pou's legal fees.<ref name=ap090701>
{{cite news {{cite news
|url=http://www.abc26.com/news/local/wgno-news-pou070109-story,0,4892289.story |url=http://www.abc26.com/news/local/wgno-news-pou070109-story,0,4892289.story
|title=Gov. Jindal Signs Bill To Reimburse Anna Pou |title=Gov. Jindal Signs Bill To Reimburse Anna Pou
|publisher=] |July 1, 2009}}</ref> |publisher=] |July 1, 2009}}</ref>
Several Louisiana lawmakers have apologized for the accusations against Pou.<ref name=ap090701/>


==See also== ==See also==
Line 42: Line 83:


==External links== ==External links==
* * at LSU
*
*


{{DEFAULTSORT:Pou, Anna}} {DEFAULTSORT:Anna Pou case}}
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]

Revision as of 13:08, 28 August 2009

The Anna Pou case was a scandal arising from the deaths of four patients at the Memorial Medical Center, New Orleans three days after the landfall of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In 2006, Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti arrested Dr Anna Pou and two nurses, publicly stating that "his is a homicide". The case never went to trial. The charges have now been expunged and the state of Louisiana has agreed to pay Dr. Pou's legal fees.

During Katrina

Dr. Pou, an associate professor in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at the LSU Health Sciences Center, worked at Memorial Medical Center during Katrina's landfall on Monday August 29. By Wednesday, the hospital was surrounded by floodwaters, without sanitation, running out of food, experiencing indoor temperatures up to 110°, and had no electricity. The staff decided to evacuate the hospital. Patients on upper floors had to be carried down the stairs, and those evacuated by helicopter had to be carried up more stairs to the helipad on a separate building; several patients died while being moved. By Friday, about 2,000 patients, families and staff had been evacuated "under incredibly difficult circumstances".

LifeCare patients

The seventh floor at Memorial was leased to LifeCare Hospitals of New Orleans. LifeCare provides intensive care for severely ill patients, aiming to improve their health to the point that they no longer need hospital care. Many of LifeCare's patients at Memorial were especially affected by the loss of electric power. None of LifeCare's doctors were present at Memorial during Katrina, so Memorial's doctors were in charge of LifeCare's patients.

Investigation

On September 13, mortuary workers later recovered forty-five bodies from the hospital. In the following weeks, it was reported that staff had discussed euthanizing patients. Some reports went further. Dr Bryant King, an internist at Memorial, told CNN that he believed that "the discussion of euthanasia was more than talk." LifeCare told the state Attorney General's office that nine of their patients might "have been given lethal doses of medicines by a Memorial doctor and nurses."

At the request of the Louisiana AG's office, Orleans Parish Coroner Frank Minyard investigated the deaths. Experts reported abnormal levels of morphine,midazolam (Versed), and/or Lorazepam in several bodies. In many cases, the experts said, the levels indicated homicide. (Another expert, Dr. Steven Karch, later disputed that conclusion.)

On July 17, 2006, Pou and nurses Lori Budo and Cheri Landry were arrested (but not formally charged) in connection with the deaths of four LifeCare patients. State Attorney General Charles Foti announced the arrests the next day, at a widely televised news conference. "This is a homicide; it is not euthanasia," he said. As a Times-Picayune reporter put it, the arrests "ignited a furious debate in New Orleans and elsewhere about whether sharp ethical boundaries can be drawn around decisions on patient comfort made in a crisis."

Later that year, The Times Picayune reported that the drug mixture that Pou supposedly used was much better suited to pain relief than causing death.

60 Minutes aired a report on the case in September 2006. In an interview, Pou told Morley Safer:

In March 2007, a state Grand Jury was sworn in to consider the Memorial case. Unlike a normal Grand Jury, this one dealt with just one case, and functioned as an investigation instead of reviewing evidence.

Conclusion

After several months, the Grand Jury declined to indict any of the suspects on any of the charges.

Since then, the charges have since been expunged, the state of Louisiana has agreed to pay Pou's legal fees (over $450,000) and several Louisiana lawmakers have apologized for the accusations against Dr. Pou.

See also

References

  1. The Memorial Medical Center has since changed ownership, and is now called the Ochsner Baptist Medical Center.
  2. ^ Kathleen Johnston (October 13, 2005). "Staff at New Orleans hospital debated euthanizing patients". CNN.
  3. ^ Sherry Fink (August 30, 2009). "Strained by Katrina, a Hospital Faced Deadly Choices". ProPublica and The New York Times Magazine. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help); Unknown parameter |http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/magazine/30doctors.html?_r= ignored (help)
  4. ^ Daniel Schorn; Morley Safer (Aug. 15, 2007). "Katrina Doc Denies Mercy Killings". 60 Minutes. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) Cite error: The named reference "60Min" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  5. James Varney (August 6, 2006). "Doctor's drug mix not ideal killer: Evidence in Memorial case called unreliable". The Times-Picayune.
  6. Mary Foster (March 8, 2007). "Grand Jury to investigate hospital deaths". Associated Press.
  7. ^ Gwen Filosa (July 16, 2007). "Foti sued by doctor accused in Memorial Hospital deaths". The Times-Picayune.
  8. . WDSU. July 25, 2007 http://www.wdsu.com/news/13744299/detail.html. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Text "'Dark Cloud' Lifted From Pou, Attorney Says: Grand Jury Declines To Indict Doctor In Hospital Deaths" ignored (help)
  9. "Gov. Jindal Signs Bill To Reimburse Anna Pou". Associated Press. {{cite news}}: Text "July 1, 2009" ignored (help)

External links

{DEFAULTSORT:Anna Pou case}}

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