Is Dr. Anna Pou and her nurses murderers?
CNN has this report:
'They pretended they were God'
Doctor, 2 nurses allegedly killed patients with lethal drug dose
The alleged killings taking place in the desperate days after hurricane Katrina struck, at New Orleans Memorial Medical Center. Louisiana's Attorney General Charles C. Foti Jr. announcing second-degree murder allegations against Dr. Anna Pou, Lori L. Budo and Cheri Landry.
An affidavit said tests determined that a lethal amount of morphine was administered on September 1 to four patients ages 62, 66, 89 and 90.
Hurricane Katrina struck New Orlean city on August 29 2005.
This is a slap in the face for all doctors and health care providers who work sincerely. Particularly those staid back in New Orlean city to treat and care for their patients instead of evacuate to save grounds like many others... Even the American govt abandoned them for the first few days when the hurricane struck.
According to the court document, the morphine was paired with midazolam hydrochloride. Taken together, Foti (the AG) said, they become "a lethal cocktail that guarantees that you die."
Well, well... looks who's talking! And it's in a court document somemore! Go to any hospital and you'd found doctors using combination of midazolam and morphine. Majority of my patients in ICU are on these two combination.
Rick Simmons, Pou's attorney, issued a statement saying his client "is innocent of the charges and we intend to vigorously contest them." He also criticized how the arrest was handled. "I told them that she is not a flight risk. I told them that she would surrender herself," he told CNN. "Instead, they chose to arrest her in her scrubs so that they could present her scalp to the media."
This is what another critical care physician wrote in
TIME commenting about the arrest:
...we did our best to make sure that when these patients died, they died with dignity and as comfortably as possible. Versed and morphine are appropriate drugs to ease suffering at the end of life in such a situation. Versed relieves anxiety and gives patients amnesia for events so they don't have horrible recollections of frightening events. Morphine is used to relieve pain. The combination is not some witch's brew, as was inferred during the press conference announcing the arrests. At the end of life we want to make sure that the experience is as comfortable as it can be. If a patient’s attention is focused on pain, he or she might miss an opportunity for closure.
The major difference between comfort care and euthanasia or murder is intent. In a dying patient, giving sedatives and pain killers with the intent to cause death would be considered euthanasia or murder, while giving the same drugs in the same dosages with the intent to relieve suffering would be considered good, compassionate medicine, even if death were to be a consequence. In the wake of Katrina if a patient had died in a hospital without evidence of having received comfort care, I would question that treatment.
.....
We don't know the whole story from all participants, including Dr. Pou and the nurses: what the conditions were like and what their intentions were. Until all the facts are known, it's wrong for the attorney general to act as if he's dealing with hardened criminals. He may very well be dealing with heroes.
The fact that this case even make it to the court is a black eye to medical care world wide!
ps: To add salt to the wound, CNN even so proudly display the note below:
Editor's Note: CNN, which broke the hospital deaths story, was nominated Tuesday for an Emmy in Outstanding Investigative Journalism: "Death at Memorial Hospital."
In an emergency, where should we go?
IML asked in her
comment for this
post:
In an emergency, which A&E should one rush to for immediate attention? I.e. a stroke or a heart attack. To the local GH or a private hospital?
I thought this should be shared to others too. Let me try to answer this difficult question.
IMHO, in an event such like a stroke or heart attack, few things can help us decide which hospital to go to for the benefit of the patient. :)
1. If one is covered by insurance or able to immediately pay the deposit in a private health care centre.
So it helps to know in detail which hospital ur insurance co allowed one to march straight to the hospital A&E to get treatment. Some policies required a panel GP's referal otherwise one might have to pay-first-claim-later.
If can't pay the private bill, go to Pg GH (HPP) on island side or Seberang Jaya Hospital (HSJ)on Seberang side. All others district hospitals cannot handle real emergency and patient would have to be transfered to the 2 hospitals mention above anyway. Some patients might then have to be transfered to HPP from HSJ again like for neuro or cardiac intervention. (lots of time lost during the process).
If one is covered, can always go ahead to private for faster service (during office hour) coz u most probably the only emergency patient at the ED. (keep the fingers crosses)
2. Fascilities and consultants in the private hospitals.
This is very different in all the hospitals. The rule is to do a survey on those hospitals. (Just like when u plan to send ur car for service or repair, we don't usually just drive to any roadside workshop right?)
3. Timing
If the said emergency happends during office hour, usually there's not much differents in all the centers with proper fascilities. But if it is out of office hour, it does varies significantly depending on the hospital policies (whether a consultant has to come to see the case immediately or at least as soon as possible in the ward after an admission), who is the MO in the ED (sometimes u might get an orthopod or O&G MO who forgotten how to read ECG, not generalised but sometimes do have such incidence), might take times to assemble the team from Lab to Radiographer to OT team or angio lab team etc. etc.
4. LUCK!
Yes, believe me, luck is very important. Bcoz medical/surgical treatments involve too many peoples and equitments along the way.
It is not only between private or public. Even private, there are a lot of differents between all those centers out there. Good luck.
Hope this help...
Feel free to add in to complete the list.
Thank you.
Read this from
TSUBASA, share it with those colleagues who understand mandarin.
It's about an expirience of a doctor as a patient's family when his mother got admitted. It reminded us about our attitute towards the patient and family.
Private practice II
Talk about private hospital care again.
Don't get me wrong... I'm not against private practice. And I'm not hinting that public health care is any better too.
One thing I can't stand when working in private hospital is all patients needed to be cleared by the customer service guys before treatments or investigations is given ecept the very basic life support. Either a deposit, insurance or GL from company etc. is needed for further management.
Last night I have a 16 years old rushed into our Emergency Department (ED). He met an MVA (motor vehicle accident), came in GCS 3/15, had laceration wounds over the face, neck and scalp. Hip dislocation. After preoxygenation before intubation patient's GCS improved to 13/15. So I didn't intubate him. Set a drip and run crystaloid.
Tht's all I supposed to do before the party confirm on payment...
We cannot get CT or even plain xray done before they are cleared. Finally we transfered the patient to GH. The MO incharge in GH just ask the relevent clinical question and ask us to send the case over. That's the public hospital!
Our government should really continue and ensure at least close to 5% GDP budget for health care! Access to basic health care is BASIC HUMAN RIGHT!
So England is going back home...
Well.. they lost! Bye bye.
Private practice I
Yesterday I was
the same Singaporean own Private Hospital again. I was there locum for it's Emergency Department (ED).
At one time, there is a 'kuai-lo' came for URTI, he wish to see a physician. At that moment the physician on-call is actually there in the ED reviewing another patient who I reffer to him for admission earlier. So after he (the physician) is done with the referal case, I spoken to him about the kui-lo requested to see a physician, and if he would like to see him.
The said physician went to see this kui-lo, seems very professional and polite. After the initial history taking, before he proceed to examination, guess what is the next questions he ask??
It's about if the patient has an insurance coverage, if he agree for admission.. bla bla bla...
Give me a break man! It's an URTI!
And when the kui-lo said he just want an out patient treatment, he imediately change tune and said, "In that case, the MO can see u and take care of this.' and he left the ED.
Well, well...
I'll stop here before I make further comments...
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