Another actor has joined the cast of an upcoming limited series for Apple TV+. According to Deadline, Michael Gaston (The Man in the High Castle, Designated Survivor) has been added to Five Days at Memorial. The limited series comes from writers John Ridley (American Crime, 12 Years a Slave) and Carlton Cuse (Colony, Nash Bridges) and is based on the nonfiction book of the same name by journalist, Sheri Fink (“The Ebola Ward,” “India: Rationing in Disasters”).
According to Deadline, Gaston will star as Arthur “Butch” Schafer. His character will serve as assistant attorney general of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Gaston joins cast that boasts Julie Ann Emery (Hitch, Preacher), Vera Farmiga (Bates Motel, The Conjuring), Molly Hager (Mad City, Botox Angels), Cherry Jones (Defending Jacob, The Handmaid’s Tale), Adepero Oduye (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Steel Magnolias), and Cornelius Smith Jr (Scandal, Love, Take Two).
The limited series chronicles events that occurred inside a New Orleans hospital as Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005, according to Deadline. Physicians and caregivers at Memorial Hospital faced grave moral dilemmas the first five days of the storm. As the sea waters flooded the city, the facility lost power, forcing doctors to make life or death decisions for the 200-plus patients in their care. Despite their best efforts, 45 patients perished in the midst of the storm.
Fink’s 2013 book, Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death at a Storm-Ravaged Hospital, was the result of an article she written about the events in 2009. Fink specifically questioned the ethics of the physicians on-call as details emerged concerning the deceased patients. Many patients were expected to have been euthanized. Fink also debated whether a physician, Dr. Anna Pou, and two other nurses should have received charges of homicide as high levels of morphine were found in the bodies of the deceased.
According to Deadline, Ridley and Cuse will serve as writers, executive producers, and directors of the series. Fink is attached as a producer. The show is under ABC Signature’s studio.