A 26-year-old nurse says a US hospital failed her when she contracted Ebola while caring for someone diagnosed with the disease.
Nina Pham told The Dallas Morning News that she is preparing to file a lawsuit in Dallas County against the hospital and its parent company Texas Health Resources. She said she continues to suffer from body aches and insomnia after contracting the disease from a patient she cared at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas.
Pham alleged the hospital's lack of training and proper equipment and violations of her privacy made her "a symbol of corporate neglect".
She also told the newspaper that Texas Health Resources was negligent because it failed to develop policies and train its staff for treating Ebola patients.
She said the company did not have proper protective gear for those who treated Thomas Eric Duncan, who died after becoming the first person in the US diagnosed with the disease stemming from an outbreak in West Africa.
Duncan, who contracted the disease on a visit to his native Liberia, died last autumn only days before Pham tested positive for the disease.
She said she was frightened when Duncan tested positive for Ebola as panic and fear spread throughout the hospital.
"I was the last person beside Mr. Duncan to find out he was positive," she said. "You'd think the primary nurse would be the first to know."
Her lawyer, Charla Aldous, said Texas Health Resources "used Nina as a PR pawn".
Wendell Watson, a spokesman for Texas Health Resources, declined to address specifics of Pham's allegations.
"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," Watson said.
Pham and another nurse who worked at Texas Health Presbyterian, Amber Vinson, both became infected with Ebola after caring for Duncan. Both have recovered.
