[SwF] Fwd: Death with Dignity? Euthanasia may be debatable ... but this?????
~FurSid <[email protected]> Tue, 13 Sep 2005 15:51:40 +0500
| Newsgroups | gmane.culture.talk.share-with-friends |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
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11/09/05 - News section
*We had to kill our patients*
by CAROLINE GRAHAM and JO KNOWSLEY, Mail on Sunday
Doctors working in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans killed critically ill=20
patients rather than leaving them to die in agony as they evacuated=20
hospitals, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
With gangs of rapists and looters rampaging through wards in the flooded=20
city, senior doctors took the harrowing decision to give massive overdoses=
=20
of morphine to those they believed could not make it out alive.
In an extraordinary interview with The Mail on Sunday, one New Orleans=20
doctor told how she 'prayed for God to have mercy on her soul' after she=20
ignored every tenet of medical ethics and ended the lives of patients she=20
had earlier fought to save.
Her heart-rending account has been corroborated by a hospital orderly and b=
y=20
local government officials. One emergency official, William 'Forest'=20
McQueen, said: "Those who had no chance of making it were given a lot of=20
morphine and lain down in a dark place to die."
Euthanasia is illegal in Louisiana, and The Mail on Sunday is protecting th=
e=20
identities of the medical staff concerned to prevent them being made=20
scapegoats for the events of last week.
Their families believe their confessions are an indictment of the appalling=
=20
failure of American authorities to help those in desperate need after=20
Hurricane Katrina flooded the city, claiming thousands of lives and making=
=20
500,000 homeless.
*'These people were going to die anyway'*
The doctor said: "I didn't know if I was doing the right thing. But I did=20
not have time. I had to make snap decisions, under the most appalling=20
circumstances, and I did what I thought was right.
"I injected morphine into those patients who were dying and in agony. If th=
e=20
first dose was not enough, I gave a double dose. And at night I prayed to=20
God to have mercy on my soul."
The doctor, who finally fled her hospital late last week in fear of being=20
murdered by the armed looters, said: "This was not murder, this was=20
compassion. They would have been dead within hours, if not days. We did not=
=20
put people down. What we did was give comfort to the end.
"I had cancer patients who were in agony. In some cases the drugs may have=
=20
speeded up the death process.
"We divided patients into three categories: those who were traumatised but=
=20
medically fit enough to survive, those who needed urgent care, and the=20
dying.
"People would find it impossible to understand the situation. I had to make=
=20
life-or-death decisions in a split second.
"It came down to giving people the basic human right to die with dignity.
"There were patients with Do Not Resuscitate signs. Under normal=20
circumstances, some could have lasted several days. But when the power went=
=20
out, we had nothing.
"Some of the very sick became distressed. We tried to make them as=20
comfortable as possible.
"The pharmacy was under lockdown because gangs of armed looters were roamin=
g=20
around looking for their fix. You have to understand these people were goin=
g=20
to die anyway."
Mr McQueen, a utility manager for the town of Abita Springs, half an hour=20
north of New Orleans, told relatives that patients had been 'put down',=20
saying: "They injected them, but nurses stayed with them until they died."
Mr McQueen has been working closely with emergency teams and added: "They=20
had to make unbearable decisions."
Find this story at=20
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_arti
cle_id=3D361980&in_page_id=3D1770
(c)2005 Associated New Media
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<div align="center"><img src="cid:p06230900bf4c4d3eb9b4@[203.81.207.91].1.0"></div>
<div align="center"><font color="#333333" face="Verdana">11/09/05 - News section</font></div>
<div align="center"><font color="#333333" face="Verdana"><b>We had to
kill our patients</b></font></div>
<div align="center"><font color="#333333" face="Verdana">by CAROLINE
GRAHAM and JO KNOWSLEY, Mail on Sunday</font></div>
<div align="center"><font color="#333333" face="Verdana"><br></font></div>
<div><font color="#333333" face="Verdana">Doctors working in
hurricane-ravaged New Orleans killed critically ill patients rather
than leaving them to die in agony as they evacuated hospitals, The
Mail on Sunday can reveal.</font></div>
<div><font color="#333333" face="Verdana"><br>
With gangs of rapists and looters rampaging through wards in the
flooded city, senior doctors took the harrowing decision to give
massive overdoses of morphine to those they believed could not make it
out alive.</font></div>
<div><font color="#333333" face="Verdana"><br>
In an extraordinary interview with The Mail on Sunday, one New Orleans
doctor told how she 'prayed for God to have mercy on her soul' after
she ignored every tenet of medical ethics and ended the lives of
patients she had earlier fought to save.</font></div>
<div><font color="#333333" face="Verdana"><br>
Her heart-rending account has been corroborated by a hospital orderly
and by local government officials. One emergency official, William
'Forest' McQueen, said: "Those who had no chance of making it
were given a lot of morphine and lain down in a dark place to
die."</font></div>
<div><font color="#333333" face="Verdana"><br>
Euthanasia is illegal in Louisiana, and The Mail on Sunday is
protecting the identities of the medical staff concerned to prevent
them being made scapegoats for the events of last week.</font></div>
<div><font color="#333333" face="Verdana"><br>
Their families believe their confessions are an indictment of the
appalling failure of American authorities to help those in desperate
need after Hurricane Katrina flooded the city, claiming thousands of
lives and making 500,000 homeless.</font></div>
<div><font color="#333333" face="Verdana"><br>
<b>'These people were going to die anyway'</b></font></div>
<div><font color="#333333" face="Verdana"><br>
The doctor said: "I didn't know if I was doing the right thing.
But I did not have time. I had to make snap decisions, under the most
appalling circumstances, and I did what I thought was
right.</font></div>
<div><font color="#333333" face="Verdana"><br>
"I injected morphine into those patients who were dying and in
agony. If the first dose was not enough, I gave a double dose. And at
night I prayed to God to have mercy on my soul."</font></div>
<div><font color="#333333" face="Verdana"><br>
The doctor, who finally fled her hospital late last week in fear of
being murdered by the armed looters, said: "This was not murder,
this was compassion. They would have been dead within hours, if not
days. We did not put people down. What we did was give comfort to the
end.</font></div>
<div><font color="#333333" face="Verdana"><br>
"I had cancer patients who were in agony. In some cases the drugs
may have speeded up the death process.</font></div>
<div><font color="#333333" face="Verdana"><br>
"We divided patients into three categories: those who were
traumatised but medically fit enough to survive, those who needed
urgent care, and the dying.</font></div>
<div><font color="#333333" face="Verdana"><br>
"People would find it impossible to understand the situation. I
had to make life-or-death decisions in a split second.</font></div>
<div><font color="#333333" face="Verdana"><br>
"It came down to giving people the basic human right to die with
dignity.</font></div>
<div><font color="#333333" face="Verdana"><br>
"There were patients with Do Not Resuscitate signs. Under normal
circumstances, some could have lasted several days. But when the power
went out, we had nothing.</font></div>
<div><font color="#333333" face="Verdana"><br>
"Some of the very sick became distressed. We tried to make them
as comfortable as possible.<br>
"The pharmacy was under lockdown because gangs of armed looters
were roaming around looking for their fix. You have to understand
these people were going to die anyway."</font></div>
<div><font color="#333333" face="Verdana"><br>
Mr McQueen, a utility manager for the town of Abita Springs, half an
hour north of New Orleans, told relatives that patients had been 'put
down', saying: "They injected them, but nurses stayed with them
until they died."</font></div>
<div><font color="#333333" face="Verdana"><br></font></div>
<div><font color="#333333" face="Verdana">Mr McQueen has been working
closely with emergency teams and added: "They had to make
unbearable decisions."</font><br>
</div>
<div><font color="#333333" face="Verdana">Find this story at
<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_arti" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_arti
</a><span></span>cle_id=361980&in_page_id=1770</font></div>
<div><font color="#333333" face="Verdana">©2005 Associated New
Media</font></div>
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