So when I heard the author of this book on NPR, I was all in. I had been so focused on the atrocity that was the Superdome, that I had completely missed this story about euthanasia in hospitals and nursing homes. This particular book hones in on Memorial Hospital in particular where there were an inordinate amount of dead patients found after the storm. Investigators dug further and the story that surfaced was one that is so tangled and speculative that you really hope it's not true. The author does, in my opinion, an excellent job of being objective leaving you to come to your own conclusion. For five days after the storm hit, patients and medical staff were essentially stranded in the hospital with no clear communication regarding rescue. When the generators failed and there was still limited to no rescue in sight, choices became desperate. Some patients were found with toxic amounts of morphine and midazolam in their system. The question is whether or not those drugs were purposefully used to hasten death or were they used to provide comfort and death was a side effect?
There are so many layers to medical decisions that it's hard to pass judgment if you were not physically there yourself or if you were not the person in charge of the decision. After reading this book, I continue to think heavily about medical ethics, living wills and quality of life issues. The best part of the story was the first section where the five days are described in detail. The second part of the book is more about the legal and ethical challenges faced when attempting to prosecute physicians and nurses for suspected euthanasia. I found the book fascinating and really enjoyed it. If you are not a medical professional, you may find yourself bored or uninterested in the complexities, but I think it's a good read for anyone.
