Dozens subpoenaed in hospital deaths

Louisiana attorney general investigates fatalities after Katrina

Associated Press | October 27, 2005

The Louisiana attorney general's office subpoenaed 73 employees of Memorial Medical Center on Wednesday as part of its investigation of deaths at hospitals and nursing homes in the New Orleans area during and after Hurricane Katrina.

The subpoenas were "for all levels of personnel" and included doctors, nurses and support staff, said Kris Wartelle, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Charles Foti.

They included people who were at the hospital during the storm and its aftermath "or they knew something about it," Wartelle said.

On the Memorial campus, 34 patients died after the hospital was cut off by floodwaters, according to Tenet Healthcare Corp., which owns the hospital. (Full story)

Tenet has said 24 of those patients were in a facility on the hospital grounds run by LifeCare Holdings Inc., a separate company.

At least 140 patients at New Orleans-area hospitals and nursing homes died during the storm and its aftermath.

Two owners of a nursing home in St. Bernard Parish were charged last month with 34 counts of negligent homicide for flood deaths at that facility. (Full story)

Wartelle has said previously that six hospitals and 13 nursing homes in Louisiana are under investigation. Allegations include patients being abandoned, evacuated improperly or euthanized to spare them further suffering while waiting for rescuers.

Wartelle said she did not know of subpoenas issued to any other hospitals or nursing homes.

Last modified October 27, 2005