by Kevin Caruso

October 13, 2005

The Louisiana attorney general is investigating allegations that the staff at Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans euthanized some patients days after Hurricane Katrina made landfall. He thus ordered autopsies for all 45 dead bodies which were taken from the hospital after the storm.

About 310 patients were in the hospital when the storm hit – many were critically ill. And the conditions at the hospital were horrible: there was no electricity; food and water were in short supply; sanitation facilities were nonfunctional; and the temperature inside the hospital was as high 110 degrees.

Some of the critical patients looked like they would not survive, so some of the staff began discussing euthanasia; however, many of the staff were appalled at the possibility and vowed not to partake in it.

One possible act of euthanasia was witnessed by Dr. Bryant King, who was working at Memorial when conditions were at their worst. King said that he was with another physician in an area filled with patients when the other doctor produced several syringes and told the patients that he was “going to give [them] something to make [them] feel better.”

King immediately left the hospital. Several other similar stories have surfaced.

The investigation continues.