USLegal Reporter

The Louisiana Supreme Court held Wednesday that claims against hospitals that did not have emergency power and evacuation plans in place prior to Hurricane Katrina are not considered medical malpractice claims. The ruling reversed an appeals court decision that likened such claims to medical malpractice cases as they involve decisions relating to patient care or treatment.

Family members of Althea Lacoste, a patient admitted to Methodist Hospital the day before Katrina hit New Orleans, brought a wrongful death lawsuit after the hospital failed to provide emergency power for her life support system and/or to evacuate her to another hospital with adequate power.

The court considered the wrongful death suit more of a products liability and/or general negligence case, rather than a medical malpractice suit. Medical malpractice suits must follow a lengthy state review process and awards are capped at $500,000. Louisiana law also requires that medical malpractice claims allege an injury caused by a deficiency in professional medical skills.

Up to 194 claims have been filed with the Louisiana Patients Compensation Fund Oversight Board.

Source: http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2007/09/louisiana-high-court-lifts-procedural.php;  http://www.lexisone.com/news/ap/ap090607j.html

U.S. District Court Judge, Jay Zainey dismissed wrongful death claims on Tuesday in a lawsuit against the federal government brought by three families who lost loved ones after Hurricane Katrina. One of the deceased, Ethel Mayo Freeman, died in her wheelchair while waiting for help outside the New Orleans convention center. Her son, Herbert Freeman, Jr., sued the Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, and the previous director of FEMA, Michael Brown, claiming the government’s negligence caused his mother’s death.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana held that although the government has offered public admissions of mistakes made before and after Katrina, it would be speculation to state that such mistakes caused these specific deaths. The court did not rule on all the claims included in the lawsuit.

Source: http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/news-31/1178154560120390.xml&storylist=louisiana