Does lack of an evacuation plan constitute malpractice?

A hurricane Katrina patient with pneumonia died, and the hospital is being sued for lack of an evacuation plan:

Pneumonia patient Althea Lacoste walked into Methodist Hospital with her portable ventilator a day before Hurricane Katrina struck and died there before rescuers arrived at the flooded, powerless building in eastern New Orleans.

The question now before the Louisiana Supreme Court: Was the hospital’s alleged lack of an adequate backup power system and evacuation plan an issue of medical malpractice?

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