A lawsuit has been filed and is seeking class action status against the state for allegedly providing inadequate care for low income residents. The lawsuit was filed in Louisiana state court on behalf of more than 100,000 uninsured residents in and near New Orleans.
Before Hurricane Katrina, Charity Hospital provided basic, specialty, and emergency care for low income residents. Louisiana State University, which operated the hospital, did not reopen the hospital after it's basement flooded during the storm. A smaller hospital was reopened, but the suit contends thousands of residents lack basic health care, the chronically ill go untreated, and critical specialty care is either delayed or unavailable.
