US Hospital reaches Settlement with Family of First Ebola Patient on American Soil
Thomas Eric Duncan was the first Ebola patient diagnosed on American soil and died at Texas Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas on October 8. On Wednesday, the hospital announced a settlement with Duncan's Family.
"As part of the healing process, we have again extended our sincere apologies to the family and shared our regret that the diagnosis of Ebola Virus Disease was not made at the time of Mr. Duncan's initial Emergency Department visit", Texas Presbyterian Hospital said in a statement.
According to the Associated Press reports, the hospital resolved the case with members of Duncan's family for an undisclosed amount and they will also make a charitable organization in his name.
Josephus Weeks, Duncan's nephew, will help administer the charitable trust and said that Texas Presbyterian took the initiative to help Duncan's family.
Weeks also said that he wanted to thank Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital for stepping up and admitting that they have committed mistakes and also for doing the right thing to ensure that it will never happen again in future.
Wendell Watson, Texas Presbyterian's director of public relations, wrote in an e-mail to the Washington Post said that according to the medical record, Mr. Duncan told the staff 'Africa,' not 'West Africa'.
Texas Presbyterian also put efforts to qualify one of the more noticeable facts about Duncan's first visit to the hospital that he had 103-degrees fever.
According to Watson, Duncan's temperature did reach 103, but was lower when he came and when he was released.
Watson wrote that when Duncan was presented to the Emergency Department on September 25, his fever was 100.1 degrees, not 103 degrees. It spiked to 103 but then returned to a lower temperature before he was sent back home after receiving about four hours of examination and treatment.
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