Experimental drugs and special care helped make Nina Pham, the first person infected with Ebola in the United States, Ebola free. But today she fears she may never escape the deadly disease.
And for that she plans to sue the hospital where she worked, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas and its parent company, Texas Health Resources.
According to Dallas Morning News, Nina Pham, 26, said the hospital failed to provide her and her colleagues adequate training and protection while she cared for Thomas Eric Duncan, who was the first patient diagnosed in the U.S. during the outbreak.
That while she became the American face of the fight against the disease, the hospital’s lack of
training and proper equipment and violations of her privacy made her “a symbol of corporate neglect — a casualty of a hospital system’s failure to prepare for a known and impending medical crisis.”
“I wanted to believe that they would have my back and take care of me, but they just haven’t risen to the occasion,” Pham said in the exclusive interview.
She will file the lawsuit on Monday in Dallas County against Texas Health Resources. Pham wants unspecified damages for physical pain and mental anguish, medical expenses and loss of future earnings.
Wendell Watson, a spokesman for Texas Health Resources, declined to address specifics of Pham’s allegations in their response but said:
“Nina Pham bravely served Texas Health Dallas during a most difficult time. We continue to support and wish the best for her, and we remain optimistic that constructive dialogue can resolve this matter.”
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