Texas hospital that treated first U.S. Ebola patient settles with his family

[LeftInTX]

Last edited Wed Nov 12, 2014, 06:23 PM - Edit history (2)

Source: Washington Post

The hospital that treated the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the United States before he died will pay his family an unspecified amount, an attorney for his relatives announced Wednesday.

In addition, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas said it has agreed to create a foundation honoring Thomas Duncan, the Liberian man who was diagnosed with Ebola in September.

Texas Health Presbyterian also apologized again to Duncan’s family for the errors made during his treatment. Duncan had first gone to this hospital on Sept. 25 with a fever and told medical workers he had been in Liberia recently. Despite this, he was released and sent home, which delayed his treatment for nearly three days and meant he was around people during a period when he had symptoms and was contagious.

Duncan returned to the hospital and was isolated for two days before being diagnosed with Ebola on Sept. 30. He died eight days later, becoming the only person to die from the virus so far in the United States. The hospital had also apologized last month for the mistake it made during this period.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/11/12/texas-hospital-that-treated-first-u-s-ebola-patient-settles-with-his-family/

---

____________________________________________________________
Glad they took prompt legal action. Due to tort reform, Texas allows only 30 days to file suit. (Apparently this is 2 years see posts below)

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

1. THIRTY DAYS? Texas allows 2 years for medical malpractice

nt.

[LeftInTX]

2. Yeah, I just checked online and it's 2 years

That's a sigh of relief! I'm glad I was wrong.


The reason I though it was 30 days. There was this lady who had to have her legs amputated due to poor medical treatment. She apparently had a hard time finding a lawyer to take her case. When she did not have an expert witnesses within a certain time frame the case fell apart. Maybe the 30 days had to do with the expert witnesses.

Here's the case: https://www.texastribune.org/2013/01/25/double-amputee-challenges-texas-tort-reform/

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. I SO want to know how much was involved.

And to what extent, if any, that family was taken advantage of in the settlement.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

4. It would depend on a number of things

Of course, bad publicity for the hospital would be worth a fortune.

On the down side, it doesn't seem like future loss of income would have been a lot, but maybe there's something we don't know.

The hospital's negligence would be worth another fortune, mitigated somewhat by "Well, if he would have stayed in his own country, he'd probably be dead, anyway." And don't think that wouldn't have been said.

Composition of a potential jury would have been considered when making and accepting an offer. Mostly, though, I think the hospital wanted to avoid the bad publicity, and the family wanted to settle quickly. A nice settlement now is better than a "potential" better award seven years down the road (and these things can be dragged on for a "long" time.) Now, is the time when his son could really use some money for a good college education, since he just graduated.