Controversy Thursday: Druggin' Grandma
I ignored this story the first few times I heard it, because what are a few more year-old deaths when there are bigger stories of mass slaughter in the brink of far more 'current' crises? I just become desensitized with my daily dose of bombings, knifings, tsunamis and torture. The pictures of the accused nurses did nothing to reel me in, but then I spotted the photo of Miss Rose and I instantly had to jump into the details of the story head first.
Rose Savoie.
She reminded me of my own grandma. Innocent. Unassuming. Humble. Incapable of even swatting at a fly.
Jess, Grandma and Lil Sis at a wedding celebration.
My gut reaction? If anyone even attempted to lay a hand on my perfect grandma, let alone euthanize her, I'd put out a mafia hit on the culprit. Those nurses deserve to rot in Hades.
But then I thought about my own nurse roommate who has selflessly sacrificed time, money, freedom and often her own physical well-being to save lives on a daily basis. Her job is not glamourous (strenuous, draining and even demoralizing at times) and the perks are far fewer than the hassle, but in her generous spirit, she knows that the contribution she makes to the betterment of life (even if unrecognized until she hits those pearly gates) is reward enough to carry on.
What if Miss Rose, pre-Katrina, had been just like my grandma, and the accused nurses, pre-Katrina, had been just like my roommate? The problem with this story is that the media has not offered us more than a headline. Imagine the accused were faced with the absolute last-minute, last-helicopter-out choice of "save yourself, or stay with your patients to perish." Would a sane nurse sacrifice her own young life to die holding someone helplessly past her prime? But would a caring nurse really run from Miss Rose's room and leave her to drown painfully? In a crisis involving futility, how many of us know that we'd react any differently?
I'd still put out the mafia hit, but I'd be happy to know that my family stronghold went without pain because someone cared enough, even in a panic-stricken moment, to ensure she didn't suffer.
Rose Savoie.
She reminded me of my own grandma. Innocent. Unassuming. Humble. Incapable of even swatting at a fly.
Jess, Grandma and Lil Sis at a wedding celebration.
My gut reaction? If anyone even attempted to lay a hand on my perfect grandma, let alone euthanize her, I'd put out a mafia hit on the culprit. Those nurses deserve to rot in Hades.
But then I thought about my own nurse roommate who has selflessly sacrificed time, money, freedom and often her own physical well-being to save lives on a daily basis. Her job is not glamourous (strenuous, draining and even demoralizing at times) and the perks are far fewer than the hassle, but in her generous spirit, she knows that the contribution she makes to the betterment of life (even if unrecognized until she hits those pearly gates) is reward enough to carry on.
What if Miss Rose, pre-Katrina, had been just like my grandma, and the accused nurses, pre-Katrina, had been just like my roommate? The problem with this story is that the media has not offered us more than a headline. Imagine the accused were faced with the absolute last-minute, last-helicopter-out choice of "save yourself, or stay with your patients to perish." Would a sane nurse sacrifice her own young life to die holding someone helplessly past her prime? But would a caring nurse really run from Miss Rose's room and leave her to drown painfully? In a crisis involving futility, how many of us know that we'd react any differently?
I'd still put out the mafia hit, but I'd be happy to know that my family stronghold went without pain because someone cared enough, even in a panic-stricken moment, to ensure she didn't suffer.
posted by DC Cookie @ 6:21 AM
9 Comments:
At July 20, 2006 5:59 AM,
Anonymous said…
None of the stories I've found gives necessary details, but it seems that Memorial and others had ceased to be "hospitals" in any modern sense, but were accident scenes in themselves. What is the standard of care when the standard care cannot be provided? No electricity. No clean water. No, or not enough, medicine. No evident prospect of relief or rescue. If the nurses and doctor are prosecuted, will the Mayor, the Governor, and Helluvajob Brownie be prosecuted as complicit in the failure to provide care? To me this reeks of prosecutorial grandstanding. Now that the issue has been raised, I suppose a trial is the only way to get to the truth, but at the outset I see reasonable doubt that the accused killed (if they did) with a motive other than mercy for those whose suffering could not be alleviated. I think it's like prosecuting an ambulance driver for not having driven fast enough.
At July 20, 2006 9:21 AM,
Phil said…
They did the wrong thing, ethically, but if I were Rose I'd have wanted to die.
Always have living wills, people.
At July 20, 2006 9:34 AM,
Anonymous said…
My family lives in New Orleans and when my sister evacuated she wound up staying with friends in Baton Rouge. Anyway a nurse stayed there too, arriving five days or so after my sister did. The nurse was so traumatized by what she went through at her hospital (it wasn't Memorial but conditions were the same everywhere) she said she was leaving the profession entirely. My point is--don't judge what happened there unless you lived through it yourself. Those prosecutors are headline grabbing scum.
At July 20, 2006 10:06 AM,
KassyK said…
I have to agree with Bill, Anon & Phil--Its a devastating thing all around but it does not seem to be a vicious thing they were doing...but then again--who knows. If this was a relative of mine--I would probably feel differently so I this is a hard one to call.
That being said--its doubly a sad post bc I just found out my great aunt passed away a few minutes ago...she was very old and very sick but still vivacious and if I found out it was not her time and someone had done something hurt her...I would probably be hysterical.
At July 20, 2006 10:34 AM,
Carrie Broadshoulders said…
The bigger issue is why the choice was made to begin with...why were these people not saved or transported to safety to begin with? The nurses should never have been forced to make the choice in the first place. The administrators of those homes should be in jail for not having a plan in place to evacuate everyone. And so should the government officials from the bottom up.
I guess if the choice was that my grandmother was to drown alone in a bed or have someone who had taken care of her euthanize her in a peaceful manner, I'd choose the latter. My problem is, my grandmother should have her ass a spot on a helicopter, bus, van or something to get her to higher ground.
At July 20, 2006 10:39 AM,
Phil said…
Carrie has echoed the point I was trying to make more eloquently than I.
At July 20, 2006 7:48 PM,
Anonymous said…
One of the three women that the media has shown regarding this travesty is actually a DOCTOR. Just an FYI.
At July 21, 2006 11:26 AM,
Andie said…
All I can say is that if LSUHSC is providing this statement, it says alot.
I think the blame should be placed on the government and other individuals for putting the doctor and the nurses in that situation. I know the conditions were dire. I heard the stories from rescue workers as they came in every day from riding in boats throughout new orleans. Some of them are STILL traumatized from what they saw.
I can only imagine what that doctor and the nurses went through.
The following is a statement by Dr. Daniel Nuss, Chair of the LSUHSC Department of Otorhinolaryngology regarding Pou's reassignment.
Dr. Anna Maria Pou is a distinguished ENT surgeon and teacher, who has earned national recognition for her contributions to the field of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery. Dr. Pou was on duty at New Orleans' Memorial Medical Center during the week of hurricane Katrina last year. The city was inundated with floodwaters, the hospital was left without power in 100-degree-plus heat, and the prevailing conditions were absolutely desperate. As most people know, there was no rescue for people left behind until almost a week after the hurricane.
Dr. Pou worked tirelessly for nearly six days helping the seriously ill patients and also the hundreds of people who sought shelter in the hospital. The conditions were unspeakably poor, and in the soaring temperatures with no water or food, many patients (nearly 40 individuals) died, despite great effort to save them. The majority of those patients were elderly people who had been admitted to the hospital's LifeCare unit, a place typically reserved for long-term care and for terminally ill persons. Some of the others who died were frail older people who had been transferred to Memorial from area nursing homes. A few were younger people who succumbed to lesser illnesses that were exacerbated by the extreme state of affairs.
By personal accounts from nurses, doctors, administrators, and support personnel who knew Dr. Pou, and had worked with her closely in the months before Katrina, her work during the crisis was "heroic,² "selfless,² and "distinguished.² With other dedicated doctors and nurses, she worked without sleep and without nourishment, and she declined an early opportunity to evacuate the hospital in order to care for those who still needed help. At great self-sacrifice, she prevented further loss of life and has been credited with saving multiple people from dying.
Apparently there were individuals in the hospital who could not understand why so many people were dying. Allegations were made, egregiously accusing Dr. Pou and the others of giving too much narcotic pain medication, and even using the word "euthanasia.² This attracted national news coverage, which became absurdly sensationalistic. Because of the widespread news coverage, an official investigation was launched.
Dr. Pou was arrested for second degree murder, along with two nurses, who also had impeccable reputations prior to these allegations.
It is my personal expectation that once all the facts are known, Dr. Pou will be recognized as one of several compassionate, dedicated professionals who did the best they could do under desperate circumstances, and that all allegations of misconduct will be shown to be unfounded.
At July 21, 2006 11:27 AM,
Andie said…
oops, sorry, i pasted that statement after I made my comment.
I'm sure it still makes sense though.
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