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Katrina: Old-age homes probed
04/10/2005 22:54 - (SA)
New Orleans - A total of six hospitals and 13 nursing homes in Louisiana are under investigation in the deaths of dozens of elderly patients following Hurricane Katrina, said state attorney general Charles Foti.
At issue is whether the facilities mishandled evacuations of patients, abandoned them during the devastating storm or euthanised patients to spare them pain when rescuers didn't arrive for days.
Foti told a legislative committee hearing that the investigation includes Charity Hospital, New Orleans' major public hospital.
At least 140 elderly patients in nursing homes and hospitals died in the storm and its aftermath; dozens more who were living independently may have perished.
Prosecuters mum on investigations
Prosecutors have kept the investigations under wraps, but Tenet Healthcare Corp. issued a statement on Sunday saying attorney general's agents seized records and other material from its Memorial Medical Centre in New Orleans.
Kris Wartelle, Foti's spokesperson, confirmed the company's report but refused to discuss details. She said the investigation is being led by the attorney general's Medicaid fraud control unit, which specialises in "abuse, neglect or exploitation of the elderly and the disabled".
Tenet said prosecutors told the company they intend to make several searches of all facilities under investigation.
On the Memorial campus, 34 patients died after the hospital was cut off by flood waters, Tenet said. The company said 24 of those patients were in the care of a facility on the hospital grounds run by LifeCare Holdings Inc., a separate company.
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