The South Asia earthquake, with its far greater loss of life, has eclipsed the memory of some of the horrors seen last month in New Orleans. You do not, however, need to think too far back to remember the days earlier this autumn when the city was flooded and those who were to frail or too poor to evacuate were left to suffer.
Conditions in the city were grim. A report from CNN.com (which, if you follow the link, you can also watch as a video) investigates allegations that staff at one city hospital facing soaring temperatures with no electricity, no water and dwindling food and medical supplies ("battle conditions" according to one manager) discussed euthanasia for patients thought unlikely to survive.
One doctor, Bryant King, told the reporters that he believes at least one mercy killing did take place after he heard of a colleague who, when asked, had said she would be prepared to do it:
About three hours later, King said, the second-floor triage area where he was working was cleared of everyone except patients, a second hospital administrator and two doctors, including the physician who had first raised the question of mercy killing.
King said the administrator asked those who remained if they wanted to join in prayer - something he said had not occurred at the hospital since Katrina ripped through the city.
One of the physicians then produced a handful of syringes, King said. "I don't know what's in the syringes ... The only thing I heard the physician say was, 'I'm going to give you something to make you feel better'."
The unnamed physician Dr King alleged held the syringes declined to comment either way, but told CNN that everyone in the hospital had felt abandoned. "[We] did everything humanly possible to save these patients," she said. "The government totally abandoned us to die. In the houses, in the streets, in the hospitals ... Maybe a lot of us made mistakes, but we made the best decisions we could at the time."
