Articles by Mary Foster

Settlement Reached in Post-Katrina Patient Deaths

A New Orleans judge has approved a $25 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit filed over the deaths of patients at a New Orleans hospital after Hurricane Katrina. The deal was reached between Tenet Healthcare Corp., which operated the Memorial …

Louisiana Insurance Fraud Investigators May Carry Guns in Future

A day after two unarmed Louisiana insurance fraud investigators were gunned down while looking into a case, the state insurance commissioner said that his department may have their agents carry weapons. Kim Sledge and Rhett Jeansonne had been on what …

Louisiana Town Works to Save Economic Engine From Flood

They call it the Vidalia Riverfront — a strip of land between the Mississippi River and the levee, with a park, walking trail, a camp ground, and $75 million worth of buildings that generate 300 jobs for this town of …

Settlement Reached in New Orleans Hospital Katrina Class Action Lawsuit

A major New Orleans hospital and the company that owned it have settled a class action lawsuit in the deaths and injuries of patients who were stranded there during and after Hurricane Katrina. The settlement was reached March 23 as …

Class Action Suit Over New Orleans Hospital Katrina Deaths Begins

A last-minute effort to work out a settlement with Tenet Health Systems and Memorial Medical Center in a lawsuit over deaths at the hospital during Hurricane Katrina was unsuccessful. Jury selection for the trial was to begin Mar. 22 in …

No Plea Deal for Ex-Insurance Executive in Louisiana

Terry Lisotta, who was indicted in late 2008 on 14 counts of theft by fraud from the Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp., was unable to work out a plea deal with prosecutors Feb. 18. Lisotta paced anxiously outside the courtroom …

Jury Convicts Louisiana Woman in Money Laundering Scheme

A federal jury has convicted a woman of conspiring with a former Louisiana lawmaker to conceal her illegal operation of an insurance business by laundering money. Prosecutors contend Gwendolyn Moyo sold bogus construction bonds and laundered roughly $2 million to …

New Orleans Doctor Accused Post-Katrina Wants New Disaster Laws

Dr. Anna Pou — the cancer surgeon charged with murder after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans — and her attorney are spearheading three bills in the Louisiana Legislature aimed at protecting medical personnel in future disasters. “What happened to Dr. …

Owners of La. Nursing Home Acquitted in Katrina Deaths Case

The owners of a nursing home in St. Francisville, La., where 35 patients died after Hurricane Katrina were acquitted Sept. 7 of negligent homicide and cruelty charges for not evacuating the facility as the storm approached. The jury took about …

Jury Selection Begins in La. in Katrina Nursing Home Trial

Attorneys in St. Francisville, La., prepared Aug. 15 to try to select the final jurors to hear the case of a couple charged with negligent homicide in the deaths of 35 patients at their nursing home following Hurricane Katrina. Five …