Billions of taxpayer dollars for an illegal, immoral Iraqi war. Many more billions of taxpayer dollars lost during this war, with no honest attempt at recovering it. All of this, to “protect Americans”… as New Orleanians continue to perish.

Debate rages over whether Katrina is still killing

Trauma from storm has boosted death rate among victims, officials say

“There is no doubt in my mind that Katrina is still killing our residents,” New Orleans coroner Dr. Frank Minyard says.

NEW ORLEANS - The bodies are no longer being dragged from houses and buildings toppled by Hurricane Katrina, but nearly two years later many in the medical community think the storm is still killing.

Storm survivors are dying from the effects of both psychological and physical stress, from the dust and mold still in dwellings to financial problems to fear of crime, health experts and officials say.

“There is no doubt in my mind that Katrina is still killing our residents,” Orleans Parish coroner Dr. Frank Minyard said this week.

“People with pre-existing conditions that are made worse by the stress of living here after the storm. Old people who are just giving up. People who are killing themselves because they feel they can’t go on,” Minyard said.
[...]

Dr. Raoult Ratard, the state epidemiologist, said “the only slight increase” in deaths was in the first three months of 2006 in Orleans Parish.

But New Orleans medical officials say that jump, from 11.3 per 1,000 deaths to 14.3 per 1,000, - a leap of more than 25 percent - was anything but slight. Moreover, the report doesn’t take into account evacuees who died while away from the city and were returned for burial.

“Our death rate was already high, that’s huge,” said Dr. Kevin Stephens Sr., director of the New Orleans Health Department.

Full article at MSNBC.com

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