[NRSKarenRN]

Found at KYW1060.com:

No Case Against Nurses in Katrina Deaths
By MARY FOSTER
Associated Press Writer
July 3rd, 2007

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- The district attorney has dropped the case against two nurses in the deaths of four patients at a New Orleans hospital after Hurricane Katrina.

Nurses Lori Budo and Cheri Landry, along with a third woman, Dr. Anna Pou, were arrested last summer and booked with being principal to second-degree murder - which carries a mandatory life prison sentence.

"We're very pleased. We thought this was how it would end," Landry's attorney John DiGiulio said Tuesday. "We're cautiously optimistic that when it's all over no one will be charged - including Dr. Pou."
State Attorney General Charles Foti claimed they killed four people with a "lethal cocktail" at Memorial Medical Center during the chaotic conditions after the August 2005 storm. Lawyers for the three said they acted heroically, staying to treat patients rather than evacuating. No charges were ever filed.

Budo and Landry had been compelled to testify last month before a grand jury, under legal guidelines that precluded their testimony from being used against them. They waived their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Assistant District Attorney Michael Morales, in a filing with the Louisiana Supreme Court, had stated he would refuse second-degree murder charges, essentially dropping the case against Budo and Landry, once they testified....

[sonnyluv]

No prosecuting attorney in America has the authority to prosecute a case against nurses trying to do their job regardless of where they fall on the political/religious/ looking to make the evening news spectrum. There is no precedent and I hope to God there never is one. I can't help but think that the DA who just got his butt nailed to a wall in the Duke case has something to do with the sudden dropping of these erroneous charges.
In journalism school we had a saying for attorneys who worked for personal gain as opposed to the gain of justice, "Media Horny."

[BBFRN]

I am so happy for these nurses. I hope this is over for them, and that it will soon be over for Dr. Pou.

[walk6miles]

These charges NEVER should have been entertained, let alone filed. Makes volunteering as an RN during national disasters a risky, risky thing to do!

Pity!

[Jolie]

Originally Posted by sonnyluv

No prosecuting attorney in America has the authority to prosecute a case against nurses trying to do their job regardless of where they fall on the political/religious/ looking to make the evening news spectrum. There is no precedent and I hope to God there never is one. I can't help but think that the DA who just got his butt nailed to a wall in the Duke case has something to do with the sudden dropping of these erroneous charges.
In journalism school we had a saying for attorneys who worked for personal gain as opposed to the gain of justice, "Media Horny."

I'm not sure I understand your post. Are you saying that there are no legal grounds or precedents for filing criminal charges against an RN for activities performed in the course of one's nursing employment duties?

If so, that is not the case. If I remember correctly, there were 2RN's and an NP brought up on criminal charges about 5-7 years ago in CO for an error in medication administration that led to the death of an infant. I don't believe that they were charged with any intentional wrongdoing, but the district attorney argued that their actions were so negligent as to be criminal. Again, if I remember correctly, one agreed to a plea deal and 2 were cleared at trial. When I have time later, I'll search for link to an article.

[Jolie]

This is an old article, but does give the details of the case:

Nurses indicted: Three nurses may face prison in a case that bodes ill for the profession
Nursing, Jul 1997 by Plum, Sandra D
MEDICATION ERRORS CAN HAVE SERIous consequences: potential patient harm, an investigation, and possible loss of your nursing license. But in Colorado, a medication error has resulted in a chilling new level of discipline and reprisal: criminal prosecution.

Understanding the facts On October 15, 1996, 1-day-old Miquel Angel Sanchez was scheduled for routine discharge after his birth at Centura St. Anthony Hospital North. Before the infant was discharged from the Denver-area hospital, the physician ordered an intramuscular (I.M.) injection of penicillin to protect him from acquiring an infection from his mother.

Tragically, nurses reportedly administered a tenfold overdose of the I.M. medication by the intravenous route. The infant later died.

After the newborn's death, two nurses-Linda Fitchett and Barbara Golz-were disciplined by the state board of nursing. A third nurse, Kathleen King, wasn't sanctioned by the board and is still working as a nurse at St. Anthony.

In April 1997, a grand jury indicted all three RNs for negligent homicide for their alleged involvement with the error. If convicted, they may be sentenced to 1 to 3 years in prison.

The criminal indictment didn't include a hospital pharmacist who reportedly misunderstood the physician's order and prepared a syringe containing 10 times the correct dose. Sources couldn't say why the pharmacist wasn't indicted.

Full text of article:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m..._n8766289/pg_1

[happybunny1970]

THANK GOD -- no one knows what these and other healthcare workers had to face first-hand -- no one has the right to judge their actions by trying to compare the post-Katrina situation to a general, every-day setup. If they manage to survive this ordeal without the post traumatic stress disorders common to those in battle, It will be a lucky, lucky thing.

[Angie O'Plasty, RN]

I'm hoping for the same outcome for Dr. Pou as well as angry that any of the three were charged in the first place.

And I'm still wondering why the DA never went after the administrators of the facilities that did not evacuate, if he had to go after anyone.

[BBFRN]

Originally Posted by Angie O'Plasty, RN

I'm hoping for the same outcome for Dr. Pou as well as angry that any of the three were charged in the first place.

And I'm still wondering why the DA never went after the administrators of the facilities that did not evacuate, if he had to go after anyone.

http://www.bestofneworleans.com/disp...over_story.php

I'm guessing this is why:

"The orchestration of events gave Foti a bonanza of free publicity leading into a splashy political fundraiser just two days after the arrests."

" Foti reaped a harvest of media attention for weeks because of the arrests, including a recent interview on CBS' 60 Minutes."

[sonnyluv]

Originally Posted by Jolie

If so, that is not the case. If I remember correctly, there were 2RN's and an NP brought up on criminal charges about 5-7 years ago in CO for an error in medication administration that led to the death of an infant. I don't believe that they were charged with any intentional wrongdoing, but the district attorney argued that their actions were so negligent as to be criminal. Again, if I remember correctly, one agreed to a plea deal and 2 were cleared at trial. When I have time later, I'll search for link to an article.

Jolie-

Thank you for better informing me. Sadly, according to your article, there is a precedent!

But let me ask you a question, in the instance that you sited as your example of precedent, should the nurse have been prosecuted? In addition, 2 charges were dropped and we don't know the conditions of the plea bargain, possibly a nurse bullied and terrified into it. As you pointed out, the pharmacist was never charged, just the nurses. Is there such thing as a sentinel medication error so severe that it warrants criminal prosecution?
But in this instance, we are talking about "mercy killing". What would have been more criminal, to let those patients starve to death and eventually collapse or to as gently as possible end their lives. Either outcome could be prosecuted by a desperate enough attorney.
Thanks for the info, though!