...treated different.

You dont let an adult with a 103 temp go

and I don't want to hear about how they're just so overworked. That may be true but there were multiple red flags and indications that Mr. Duncan was very ill.

...stayed in the ER for the night even if they told me son was ok to leave.

8 out of 10 pain and 103 temp = take these pills and call me in the morning?!

nah... somethings up there

just Tylenol!?!?! Tylenol doesn't do shit for my pain. All it does is make me sleepy.

What I find so incredibly sad is that none of his family were able to be there when he died
...so he just died alone. ( I know nurses were there, but not the same as family)

It's just so sad...

I shall return.

Pretty much shit-poor medicine. Flagrant malpractice of the "lose your license" variety.

Basically, whoever treated Duncan (MD, PA, NP?) didn't read the triage nurse's notes, or maybe they weren't in. Went to go interview, did the quickie interview and exam, and ordered the tests to rule out the things that could kill him and released him once they came back negative. Never actually thought about his case, never checked his vitals again (though the nurse should have been chirping about that). Gave him the conciliatory antibiotics (maybe flagyl, maybe cipro, maybe azithromycin (the 'fuck you' antibiotic)) and sent him on his way.

It wasn't a cheap visit in monetary terms, they did some expensive tests, it was cheap in the things that cost the least, time and thought. The truly terrifying thing, completely typical of a modern ED visit.

no excuse for the lack of care.

The hospital had released information a week ago that showed his temp as 101.1 F and symptoms mild. I can't find the original article I saw, which actually linked to a copy of the hospital document. But here is another article confirming it:

The hospital said it was releasing its statement "in the interests of transparency, and because we want other U.S. hospitals and providers to learn from our experience." The hospital said it had Duncan's permission to release the information.

Additionally, the hospital statement said that on his first presentation to the hospital on Sept. 25, he presented with a temperature of 101.1 F, abdominal pain for two days, a sharp headache, and decreased urination.

"These symptoms could be associated with many communicable diseases, as well as many other types of illnesses. When he was asked whether he had nausea, vomiting or diarrhea, he said no. Additionally, Mr. Duncan's symptoms were not severe at the time he first visited the hospital emergency department."
http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/page-3/TEC-309001/Hospital-EHR-Flaw-Obscured-Ebola-Patients-Travel-Note

I've written and read enough to be able to spot what is there, what isn't there. Thanks.

The PDF can be found a the second link on this page [link:
http://www.dallascounty.org/department/hhs/epistats.html|

His > 101.5 fever and his recent departure from Liberia would make his diagnosis as possible Ebola. (Seriously, no one asked where he was from in Africa??? Isn't that the hospital's job???)

I wonder if they performed labs in the first ER visit. Wonder if labs showed thrombocytopenia?

...attributing the severe pain to...? Also, I wonder what bacterium they were supposedly attempting to eradicate with the antibiotics.

It's hard to believe they didn't hospitalize him immediately.

TYY

Anybody see that doc hot coffee?

Most likely nothing. TX had a tort reform, and since then malpractice lawsuits are very hard to win.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/07/us-health-ebola-usa-liability-idUSKCN0HW0W920141007

Otherwise, why'd they let him go?

but take everything around this case with a tablespoon of epsom salts.

I have been following this closely and have seen no statements of the sort.

After retracting its initial story placing blame on a "flaw" in its electronic health record system, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital has yet to provide an explanation as to why Duncan's case was handled in the manner that it was. Before Duncan's death, Dallas county commissioner John Wiley Price suggested that Duncan's lack of health insurance may have played a part in the hospital's decision to release him after initially complaining of a fever and abdominal pain.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/judy-lubin/unequal-treatment-race-eb_b_5955786.html

I'm inclined to believe Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price.They've changed their story a lot, tho.

I wonder if they can get Price to expand on his opinion at some point. He's talking out of school.

Last edited Fri Oct 10, 2014, 03:10 PM - Edit history (1)

I'd definitely need more confirmation than his word.

Please post, librechik, when you hear news. I'd like to know if the Dallas hospital put profits first. Here in Detroit, the poor present at the Emergency Room all the time. They represent a real nuisciance for a place trying to make a buck. There ought to be a law about it...

nothing more.

I would like to ask him exactly where he got that very natural notion.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5630472

He was booted shortly after being seen because he was uninsured.

From the Great Jim Schutze in the Dallas Observer:

"But we also know that Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, where the failure occurred, has a history of pushing emergency room show-ups out the door without adequate treatment in violation of federal regulations and law. Why hasn't the mayor or the governor launched a law enforcement investigation with badges and subpoena power to run this question to ground?

<snip>

"The string of failures in Dallas that began at Presbyterian Hospital a week ago has only grown. In the meantime, we see a great deal of effort and time expended on television appearances by local officials offering blandishments to the community about the need to avoid panic.

Panic is not a good thing, but generally speaking people do not die of panic. Panic is bad for business, elections and public image. But people die of Ebola. In a city where the leadership is often obsessed with image, perhaps we need to remind them that the worst image you can have and the last one is death."

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2014/10/ebola_failures_dallas.php

My SO knew the day the story broke on the 30th. In 1976, her first husband sliced his finger badly on a Pyrex measuring cup. They went to Presby first thinking stitches were needed. Tendons were sliced, and surgery was necessary. Since they were uninsured, they were sent off to Parkland.

Presbyterian will send you away for not being insured, even when white.

Jim S is one of the last best investigative journalists this town has left. look him up.

He is on this and has been since the beginning.

Isn't this more dangerous to the homeland than BENGHAZI!?

just check your history. I'm sure they're holding back a lot, but Repubs won't be investigating their cronies in Texas.

I'd like to see what he was thinking in relationship to the symptoms the patient presented with.

But they should have given him Placebomycin.

I had a temp of 103 (septic kidney stones). I was admitted right away. But then I'm a white insured woman.

I saw a TV interview with one of Mr. Duncan's relatives in Liberia. The relative had a question: Why did the four white Americans who returned to the States for treatment recover while Mr. Duncan did not. I never did see an answer to that one.

I am aghast.

I just hope the doctor(s) who ignored the triage nurse's notes are having sleepless nights and knots in their stomachs worrying if they caught it. I hope they suffer the mental pangs of Hell.