When Thomas Eric Duncan made his first trip to the hospital in Dallas Texas, he did it for a reason. The man knew that he had just traveled from Liberia, a nation infested with the deadly Ebola virus. He also knew that while in Liberia days before he traveled to the US, he tried to help a girl with Ebola, driving her to the hospital for treatment and then bringing her back home that night where she died hours later.
When he saw the first signs that he too was infected, Thomas, who arrived in the United States on September 20th, went to the Dallas hospital only to be sent back home by hospital personnel with a dosage of Tylenol.
Tylenol is great, but Ebola is not a common cold or a headache. After the disease progressed, a weakened Duncan made a second trip to the hospital where he was immediately admitted and isolated.
The damage was already done.
Daniel Varga, Chief Clinical Officer of Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital used a congressional hearing on Thursday to admit the hospital’s mistake.
“We made mistakes,” said Varga, who works for Texas Health Resources. “We did not correctly diagnose his symptoms as those of Ebola, and we are deeply sorry.”
Duncan was admitted and isolated on September 26th, two days after his initial hospital visit. He was treated but eventually died on Oct. 8. Since his death, two other hospital nurses have been diagnosed with the disease and are now in isolation.
