Medical records are raising new questions about the treatment the only person to die from Ebola in the United States received when he first sought care at a Dallas hospital, according to a recent article in The New York Times.
When Thomas Duncan arrived at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital on Sept. 25, he had a 103 degree fever and severe pain. Even after learning that he had recently arrived from Africa, he was prescribed antibiotics and sent home. He returned to the emergency room three days later and died on Oct. 8.
The reported details about his condition contradict the hospital's previous description of Duncan's initial hospital visit. Hospital officials said he had a temperature of 100.1 degrees and that his symptoms "were not severe at the time he first visited the hospital emergency department."
The hospital has made contradictory and inaccurate statements in the past two weeks, providing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the wrong dates and placing some of the blame of sending Duncan home on its electronic records system.
"I'm not a medical professional," said Duncan's brother, Wilfred Smallwood, "but I thnk it's clear to the public that he went to the hospital the first time and was turned away and told, 'You're O.K.' Who do you blame for it happening now? One hundred and three, they said go home. Now he's dead. Who do you blame for this?" Read the full article here:
Ebola Patient Sent Home Despite Fever, Records Show
A great example of how care providers regularly defend themselves when they clearly committed malpractice. First, they misstated the clinical condition of the patient, then misstated the date they saw him. Then, they misstated the date he came back after their negligence and blamed their computer system for not giving the doctors the information. They now admit the doctors did get the information and state they are committed to good medicine.
Lawmakers, it is time to wake up and realize the only thing tort reform produces is really bad care layered by care providers lying about it after.
If you or a family member believe you have a medical malpractice case, contact Crandall & Pera Law today for a free case evaluation. Crandall & Pera Law is available to help answer your questions and guide you in determining your next steps.