Grand jury declines to indict Katrina doctor

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

A New Orleans grand jury today declined to indict Dr. Anna Pou - accused of killing four seriously ill elderly patients in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Pou, an eye, ear, nose, and throat surgeon, along with 2 other nurses, were arrested last summer when an Attorney General Charles Foti's investigation concluded that they had administered a "lethal cocktail" of morphine and midazolam hydrochloride to the four patients of the Memorial Medical Center amid chaotic conditions that followed the August 29, 2005 hurricane.

Pou's lawyers argued that she acted heroically by staying back to treat patients rather than leave, in a hospital where the first floor was under 10 feet of water, there was no electricity, and temperatures topped 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Charges against nurses Lori Budo and Cheri Landry were dropped after they were compelled to testify before the grand jury last month under legal guidelines that kept their testimony from being used against them.

Assistant District Attorney Michael Morales, had asked the grand jurors to return one charge of second-degree murder and nine of murder conspiracy. The Orleans Parish grand jury had been investigating the charges since March.

The grand jury sat quietly while the judge read the possible charges and each response of "no true bill."

At least 34 people died at Memorial Medical Center, many from dehydration during the four-day wait for rescuers to evacuate them.

The four Pou was accused of killing ranged in age from 61 to 90. Foti concluded that all four would have survived had they not been given morphine and midazolam hydrochloride.

Pou has since given up her private practice since being arrested, and has been teaching at LSU medical school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.