$25 Million Settlement for Families of 45 Patients Who Died at Memorial Medical Center After Hurricane Katrina

When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in late August 2005, Memorial Medical Center had approximately 187 patients and some 800 staff and visitors trapped inside. The hospital's backup generators failed shortly after the storm hit, eliminating power to ventilators and other critical equipment. Evacuation helicopters did not arrive for two days. By the time rescuers reached the building, 45 patients were dead.

The survivors and families of those who died filed suit against Tenet Healthcare Corporation, the corporate parent of Memorial. The lawsuit alleged that Tenet had failed to develop a valid evacuation plan and was unprepared to care for seriously ill patients as conditions in the city collapsed. Generators were installed in flood-vulnerable locations, and no adequate arrangements had been made for the kind of prolonged power outage and transportation breakdown that Katrina produced.

Joseph Bruno of Bruno and Bruno served as lead counsel for the plaintiff class. The case proceeded in Orleans Parish Civil District Court before Judge Rosemary Ledet. Jury selection had already begun in March 2011 when Tenet agreed to settle. The company, which reported revenues exceeding $9 billion for 2010, denied all liability, attributing the deaths to the failed federal levees, inadequate government response, and the hurricane itself rather than any failure on its part.

The parties announced the settlement on March 23, 2011. Judge Ledet granted preliminary approval and later found the $25 million agreement 'fair, reasonable and adequate.' Some families opted out of the class to pursue separate claims. One plaintiff, Mark LeBlanc, had previously reached a separate settlement against LifeCare, a long-term care facility operating inside Memorial at the time of the storm. The class settlement was given final approval following a hearing in October 2011, releasing Tenet from further liability for class members' claims.

Apart from the civil litigation, certain Memorial physicians had acknowledged administering drug injections that hastened patient deaths during the crisis. No criminal charges were ever filed in connection with those acts.