NEW ORLEANS-
A state medical organization on Wednesday came out strongly in support of the Louisiana physician accused of killing four critically ill patients in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Louisiana’s attorney general said Dr. Anna Pou and two nurses at Memorial Medical Center injected a lethal cocktail of sedatives into the four bedridden patients after determining they were too ill to be moved. The trio was arrested and faces second-degree murder charges, pending the outcome of a New Orleans grand jury investigation.
“The Louisiana State Medical Society is confident that Dr. Pou performed courageously under the most challenging and horrific conditions and made decisions in the best interest of her patients,” President Dr. Floyd A. Buras said in a statement.
Speaking Sunday night on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” Pou emphatically denied killing the patients.
“No, I did not murder those patients,” said Pou, who’s been practicing medicine for more than 15 years. “I’ve spent my entire life taking care of patients. I have no history of doing anything other than good for my patients.”
In a statement Wednesday, Attorney General Charles Foti said many hospitals were in trouble after the hurricane, which devastated the city on Aug. 29, 2005.
“However, this is the only hospital where doctors, nurses and other health care professionals and witnesses on the scene reported suspicious deaths of patients,” Foti’s statement said. “Many came forward and reported to us after witnessing events they believed were wrong and against ethical and legal standards.”
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