More on the Supposed Louisiana Hospital Euthanasia Cases

Wulf, posting in comments, seems to take issue with my post yesterday about the Hurricane Katrina related charges of euthanasia in hospitals. Logically, I can appreciate why people would be upset at the concept. Realistically, every single drug that would be used in this case in a controlled substance drug that must be accounted for everywhere from that hospital all the way to the feds. The doctor in charge of anesthesiology, for example, says the hospital can account for enough drugs and drug records (because they were stored on an upper floor) to show this did not occur. Drug counts occur constantly throughout a hospital day.

But here's what I posted in comments:
The doctor who is making the charges is not only less than credible (a three week temp hire doctor is NOT going to be consulted by the chief medical staff on a procedure like euthanasia), he can no longer be found. The nurse has "disappeared" too.

OK, let's say for the sake of argument that these folks are possibly telling the truth and they've disappeared out of fear. This does happen.

But here's the clincher, at the time when
the "euthanasia" supposedly began, the hospital was filled to overflowing with volunteers and family members (confirmed by more than 100 people so far) who were providing care. Not one volunteer or family member interviewed so far has said anything like this happened. Support staff inside the hospital, far removed from medical services, like the engineers and such who were on floors trying to keep machinery running, also categorically deny it; they say every patient was surrounded by people fanning them, applying cool compresses to their heads, etc. to combat the 107-115 degree heat.

If there was more evidence, I'd say yes, investigate. But those bodies aren't going to produce reliable tox screens now. Lots of patient records have been destroyed both on paper and on computer because of water damage.

Also:

But if the drug formulary in the hospital can account for what drugs they had before the flood and what they had after, and there is no questionable difference, ball game's over.

To have Louisiana investigate EVERY hospital death during Katrina is an exercise in.... bureaucracy. The costs for this investigation will end up coming out of direct medical care for the living.