A grand jury has refused to indict a Louisiana State University doctor who had been accused of deliberately administering lethal injections to four elderly patients in a flooded and sweltering New Orleans hospital in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Anna Maria Pou, 51, a respected associate professor of otorhinolaryngology at the university’s Health Sciences Center, said she was at home with her husband when she received word on July 24. “I fell to my knees and thanked God,” she said during an emotional news conference. Dr. Pou (pronounced “Poe”) added that she had been through a “very challenging and painful” time.
“This is not a triumph, but a moment of remembrance for those who lost their lives during the storm and a tribute to those who stayed at their posts to serve those in need,” she said, reading from a prepared statement.
The Orleans Parish grand jury refused to act on the accusations that many in the medical community believe should never have been made. The chairman of the American Medical Association’s Board of Trustees praised the grand jury’s decision.
“The AMA is proud of Dr. Pou and the many heroic physicians and other health-care professionals who sacrificed and distinguished themselves in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina,” the board chairman, Edward L. Langston, said in a written statement."The AMA continues to be very concerned about criminalizing decisions about patient care, especially those made during the chaotic aftermath of a disaster, when medical personnel and supplies are severely compromised.”
Hearing on Documents
The attorney general of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, defended his decision to order the arrests last July of Dr. Pou and two nurses on charges of second-degree murder.
The cases against the nurses were dropped in exchange for their testimony. No one was formally charged.
Mr. Foti accused the three women of “pretending they were God,” by administering a lethal cocktail of painkillers to the four seriously ill patients, who ranged in age from 61 to 90, at Memorial Medical Center after Hurricane Katrina struck, on August 29, 2005, and New Orleans filled with water. He turned the case over to the local district attorney, who said that he agreed with the grand jury’s decision and considered the criminal investigation over.
Dr. Pou, who has steadfastly denied killing the patients, sued the Louisiana attorney general last week, accusing him of pursuing her case to bolster his re-election chances.
Dr. Pou still faces legal challenges. The families of three of the patients who died have filed civil lawsuits against her. She was initially reassigned to nonclinical and teaching duties but was cleared to return to clinical work about two months after her arrest.
http://chronicle.com Section: The Faculty Volume 53, Issue 49, Page A10
