HOUSTON, Texas — The family of the first patient to be diagnosed with Ebola in America, Thomas Eric Duncan, will announce today that they have reached a “resolution” with Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital and its parent organization, Texas Health Resources. The family made allegations that the hospital had not properly cared for Duncan on both his first and subsequent visits to the hospital where he eventually died from the Ebola virus. They continue to claim race as a reason for Duncan’s death.
The family of Thomas Duncan is expected to hold a press conference this morning “regarding a resolution they have reached on behalf of the children and parents of the deceased with Texas Health Resources and all related entities,” according to a report by WFAA-ABC in Dallas. The statement came from the Law offices of Miller Weisbrod, LLC., attorneys for the family. No details of the “resolution” have been released at this time.
Duncan was allegedly sent home by the hospital on his first visit to the Emergency Room where he presented with symptoms of Ebola. He later returned by ambulance and was admitted to the hospital where he was diagnosed with Ebola and treated until he eventually died from the virus.
Duncan never received the state-of-the-art experimental treatments, nor was he sent off to other specialty hospitals like Emory or the National Institute of Health according to a report in The Washington Post. The Post points out that Duncan was poor, uninsured and black.
The Post quotes Duncan’s nephew, Josephus Weeks from an Associated Press interview. “We asked. We begged. We pleaded. I even offered my own blood, even though it wouldn’t do anything for him. We requested everything we could think of to save Eric. They said no.”
In another interview with CNN, Weeks said, “Had [he] been another color, he probably would be living today, he would have survived it. And that’s what’s really hurting me the most: … They treated him the way they did because of the color of [his] skin.” He added: “You stand a chance if you’re white, but not if you’re black.”
Neither of the two nurses who were infected with the Ebola virus and eventually recovered from their illness was white. Nurse Nina Pham, the first person to contract Ebola in the United States is of Vietnamese heritage and Nurse Amber Vinson is black. Both, however did have strong health care insurance from Texas Health Resources.
Bob Price is a staff writer and a member of the original Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.
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