Doc Accused of Hastening Deaths During Katrina Now an Advocate for Physician Immunity

The New York Times magazine has an article on the controversial case at Memorial Medical Center in Uptown New Orleans in which Dr. Anna Pou was accused of having "hastened the deaths of some patients by injecting them with lethal doses of drugs" during Hurricane Katrina. After a New Orleans grand jury "declined to indict her on second-degree murder charges," she became an advocate, helping to "write and pass three laws in Louisiana that offer immunity to healthcare professionals from most civil lawsuits...for their work in future disasters." She also advises national and state medical organizations "on disaster preparedness and legal reform" and "argues for changing the standards of medical care in emergencies. She has said that informed consent is impossible during disasters."