Five Days at Memorial

Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital

By: Sheri Fink

Narrated by: Kirsten Potter

Length: 17 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The award-winning book that inspired an Apple Original series from Apple TV+ • A landmark investigation of patient deaths at a New Orleans hospital ravaged by Hurricane Katrina—and the suspenseful portrayal of the quest for truth and justice—from a Pulitzer Prize–winning physician and reporter

“An amazing tale, as inexorable as a Greek tragedy and as gripping as a whodunit.”—Dallas Morning News

After Hurricane Katrina struck and power failed, amid rising floodwaters and heat, exhausted staff at Memorial Medical Center designated certain patients last for rescue. Months later, a doctor and two nurses were arrested and accused of injecting some of those patients with life-ending drugs.

Five Days at Memorial, the culmination of six years of reporting by Pulitzer Prize winner Sheri Fink, unspools the mystery, bringing us inside a hospital fighting for its life and into the most charged questions in health care: which patients should be prioritized, and can health care professionals ever be excused for hastening death?

Transforming our understanding of human nature in crisis, Five Days at Memorial exposes the hidden dilemmas of end-of-life care and reveals how ill-prepared we are for large-scale disasters—and how we can do better.

ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Chicago Tribune, Seattle Times, Entertainment Weekly, Christian Science Monitor, Kansas City Star

WINNER: National Book Critics Circle Award, J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize, PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award, Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Ridenhour Book Prize, American Medical Writers Association Medical Book Award, National Association of Science Writers Science in Society Award

©2013 Sheri Fink (P)2013 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

2014, Carnegie Medal, Short-listed

2013, Los Angeles Times Book Prizes—Current Interest—Winner

2014, National Book Critics Circle Awards, Winner

2015, PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction, Winner

2014, Ron Ridenhour Book Award, Winner

“The journalist and doctor Sheri Fink published a meticulous investigation of these deaths in the New York Times Magazine and on the Web site of ProPublica, in 2009. Her work won a Pulitzer Prize. And now comes the book. In Five Days at Memorial, the contours of the story remain the same, yet Fink imbues them with far more narrative richness, making the doctors seem both more sympathetic and more culpable. Fink also expands on the ethical conundrums, which have festered over time and seem to gain fresh urgency.” (The New Yorker)

"“That so many people, starkly divided over the question of whether crimes had been committed, come off as decent and appealing makes this book an absorbing read. Dr. Fink brings a shimmering intelligence to its many narrative cul-de-sacs, which consider medical, legal and ethical issues. . . . By reporting the depth of those gruesome hours in Memorial before the helicopters came, and giving weight to medical ethics as grounded in the law, Sheri Fink has written an unforgettable story. Five Days at Memorial is social reporting of the first rank.” (Jason Berry, The New York Times)

A tough read

Long and hard to get through all the investigational material. Not for the faint of heart, but thought-provoking and troubling on many levels. Good background for COVID-19 pandemic.

Good, not great

An important and fascinating listen, but long winded and the mispronunciations were distracting. Also hard to read in the aftermath of a pandemic.

Should be Required Reading

Unquestionably a book which should be read and discussed by those who are involved in emergency preparedness programs as well as the general public. Well researched, well documented description of conditions at an aging but vital hospital in New Orleans during Katrina as well as historical and subsequent developments and the players involved.

Strip away the fluff and it was simply murder!

Any additional comments?

Yes, the water was rising and yes, the electricity went out and yes, the backup generators finally failed as well and yes, the toilets overflowed. So do we just kill the patients who were within hours of being rescued? The hospital had food, water, and medications. This book isn't about difficult triage decisions which have to be made in a disaster situation e.g., who gets treated or medevaced out first, who gets the last vial of medicine,etc.The patients to whom Dr. Pou gave lethal injections weren't asking to die. She wasn't giving palliative medicine intended to alleviate pain or anxiety. She INTENDED to kill them without having consulted with them or their families. She has never explained why she did it. The story made me angry that she got away with it.

Really makes you think...

I started this book with rather strong feelings about end of life decisions, but I found myself changing my mind throughout the entire book. The book includes a lot of information about Katrina that I was unaware of, and overall I thought it was well researched. For me, however, a book with this many names, dates, and facts is usually better in print form, as I can look back and review earlier information.

Harrowing story, impossible decisions, ethics in modern life

I knew the situation was horrible, but to learn what these hospital workers had to endure was beyond eye opening. I have wanted to read this book since I heard the author interviewed on the radio some time ago. Was glad to see it as an audio book. Recommended for anyone with an interest in ethics... and anyone at all interested in the people of New Orleans. Still so shocking.

Frightening true story

Would you listen to Five Days at Memorial again? Why?

Yes, because the content is so important

What about Kirsten Potter’s performance did you like?

Very good at medical terminology

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The last chapters about the legal implications

Any additional comments?

This book was assigned reading for senior students in a baccalaureate program in nursing. They were studying "health disparities." This book was very enlightening for them, and stimulated several to consider careers in crisis/emergency nursing.

Very long, but well worth it

This was a gripping story, well-narrated and well-written. I found Fink's interviews and analysis of euthanasia at the end of the book particularly interesting. It kept me thinking and talking about the issues it covered for weeks.

A book everyone should read

This book goes on my list of one of the most powerful reads of all time. I think it a must read for every person who might be part of a disaster at some point in their life, which means everyone. It would be an excellent book for an ethics course to read and discuss.

I found my emotions being sucked all over the place. From anger at the lack of planning and poorly coordinated response to compassion for the filth and terror those whose lives are forever marred from the experience to being utterly confounded by the decisions made by the health care professionals, sometimes understanding but at other times listening with disbelief.

I do not however stand in judgment. How can I? Unless you were present and experienced the disaster first-hand there is no possible way you can judge anyone for their actions or inaction. It has however made me realize that our values guide our decisions and the decisions we make in the "dark" may look very different in the light so it would be wise to wrestle out some of these life altering choices before a crisis.

I know this, we as a country failed the people of New Orleans. The epilogue illuminates several similar disasters post Katrina and suggests that we haven't come too far in the years that have passed. Scary stuff. A must read!

Real, difficult

The situations described in this book are hard to grasp if not unfathomable. Rarely are the best outcomes achieved. At times, ones moral compass is the only guide. Difficult to describe how this book affected me. Empathy and compassion for those affected by natural disasters is a start, I suppose.