At least 34 patients at Memorial Medical Center died in the aftermath of the hurricane, after power was lost and those hospitalized were stranded for four days. The Louisiana attorney general's office alleges that the suspects dispensed pain medication to certain patients that sped up their deaths during the chaos following Katrina. Prosecutors have subpoenaed 73 Memorial staff members in the inquiry.
Tenet Healthcare Corporation, owner of Memorial Medical Center, says, "If proven true, these allegations are very disturbing. Euthanasia is repugnant to everything we believe as ethical healthcare providers, and it violates every precept of ethical behavior and the law."
Hurricane Katrina killed nearly 1,200 people in Louisiana and Mississippi in late August last year. Many hospitalized patients died in the storm and its aftermath, including dozens of seniors who were allegedly abandoned by the owners of their nursing home.
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