Ten months after being cleared of criminal wrongdoing in the deaths of patients at a hospital flooded by Katrina, Dr. Anna Pou Wednesday testifies in front of a state house committee on legislation that protects Louisiana doctors who provide care during disasters.

Pou says the goal of the legislation is to protect patients.

"We're going to do that by ensuring that doctors and nurses who stay behind to care for those patients will also have some protections so there will be someone there to take care of patients during their greatest time of need," said Pou.

She also emphasizes the new laws would not give doctors carte blanche to do whatever they want during a disaster.

"This isn't to say, 'oh, doctors and nurses get free reign to do what ever they want during disasters'," said Pou. "We just want to be treated fairly, and we want a medical judgement to be evaluated under the circumstances during which it was rendered."

Pou says protecting doctors and nurses will encourage more of them to stay during disasters, since many were "scared off" by her recent experience.

Click here to read the bill...