Three charged in Katrina-related deaths-report

NEW ORLEANS, July 18 (Reuters) A doctor and two nurses at a New Orleans hospital have been arrested and charged with murder in a series of hospital deaths after Hurricane Katrina, a local television station said today.

State Attorney General Charles Foti said he would announce later in the day the results of his investigation into allegations that some patients were killed at Memorial Hospital in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.

WWL television said on its Web site that the three people had been arrested. Foti issued 73 subpoenas for hospital employees after 45 bodies had been found at the hospital after the storm, prompting questions about whether workers had euthanized patients, it said.

More than 200 patients in area nursing homes and hospitals died in the chaotic aftermath of the August. 29 hurricane, leading to several criminal investigations. Witnesses have said conditions at Memorial deteriorated quickly as temperatures rose above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) inside the building and the sanitation system broke down.

Tenet Healthcare Corp. owns Memorial.

REUTERS SHB PC2116