Sunday, August 12, 2007

Owners Not Sued for Katrina Patient Deaths


Consider the legal fate of health care institutions with the largest patient death toll post Hurricane Katrina.

St. Rita's Nursing Home-owners are criminally charged in 35 patient deaths. The charge is negligent homicide.

Memorial Hospital & Lifecare Unit-Tenet Healthcare and The Carlyle Group are not charged for the 34 patient deaths between the two companies. Carlyle's LifeCare had the vast majority of patient deaths. Several Memorial clinicians were charged but a jury found the providers innocent. The corporate owners face no criminal proceedings.

Why does one owner get charged and the other two not? The patient death total was virtually identical? Something stinks and I smell a PEU (private equity underwriter)!