Categories: News

Thomas Eric Duncan’s Family Receives Settlement from Hospital


Texas Presbyterian Hospital, where Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan (pictured) was treated, have arrived at a settlement with the family, according to NBC News.

RELATED: Ebola Victim Thomas Eric Duncan Dies But Family Wonders Whether U.S. Did Enough

Duncan, who died of Ebola on October 8th, was initially sent home by the hospital even after telling them he had traveled to Africa and had a fever.

Face2Face Africa previously reported:

Duncan boarded a plane on September 19th in order to visit his sister in Texas.

When he got off of the plane on the 20th, Duncan reportedly visited a number of family members. On September 24th, though, Duncan began feeling ill and went to seek care from Texas Presbyterian Hospital.

The hospital erroneously sent Duncan home with antibiotics.

By September 27th, Duncan went back to the hospital, reportedly vomiting in the ambulance from his condition.

On September 30th, the Centers for Disease Control announced that the United States had their first case of Ebola.

By the time Duncan died, controversy was swirling about whether the hospital had given him adequate care.

As Face2Face Africa previously reported:

On Monday, Duncan’s critical condition made headlines because it was revealed that doctors had NOT given him experimental drugs, even though the four American aid workers, who had also caught Ebola, had received some form of treatment.

For example, Dr. Kent Brantly, who was the first aid worker to contract Ebola and be flown back to the United States, said that he would donate his plasma to NBC News freelance cameraman Ashoka Mukpo on Monday, after the Nebraska Medical Center asked him for it.

Brantly’s plasma also previously went to Dr. Rick Sacra, who was also an Ebola victim.

Dr. Sacra, Dr. Brantly, and one other aid worker have made a full recovery.

Consequently, Joe Weeks, who lives with Duncan’s sister Mai, told ABC News at the time, “I don’t understand why he is not getting the ZMapp.”

But not too long after, Duncan’s sister, Mai Wureh, told the press that she saw no mention of experimental drugs in her brother’s medical reports.

While it isn’t clear whether she ever did receive proper documents concerning Duncan’s alleged administering of experimental drugs, by Tuesday, Duncan’s family made an announcement that the hospital had settled with the hospital.

While the terms of the settlement have not been disclosed, Duncan family lawyer Les Weisbrod told the press that the settlement amount was substantial enough to “take care” of Duncan’s family, which includes his four children (between 12 and 22) and his parents.

In addition, the owners of Texas Health Presbyterian will create a “charitable trust” for Ebola victims in Africa, and according to Time, the trust will fund the building of an Ebola health facility in Liberia.

In response, Duncan’s nephew, Josephus Weeks, said, “I can never replace Thomas Eric Duncan, but we can make sure that we make this better for everyone else.”

SEE ALSO: Bad News! Last Ebola-Free Area in Sierra Leone Becomes Infected

 

Abena Agyeman-Fisher

Abena Agyeman-Fisher is the Editor-in-Chief of Face2Face Africa. Most recently, she worked for Interactive One as the Senior Editor of NewsOne, she worked for AOL as the News Programming Manager of Black Voices, which later became HuffPo Black Voices, and for the New York Times Company as an Associate Health Editor. Abena, a Spelman College graduate, has been published in Al Jazeera, the Daily Beast, New Jersey’s The Star-Ledger, the Grio, BlackVoices, West Orange Patch, About.com, the Source, Vibe, Vibe Vixen, Jane, and Upscale Magazines. She has interviewed top celebrities, icons, and politicians, such as First Lady Michelle Obama, Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett, Civil Rights activist and diplomat Andrew Young, comedian Bill Cosby, Grammy Award-winning singer Jill Scott, actress and singer Queen Latifah, Olympic Gold winner Cullen Jones, international supermodel Alek Wek, and five-division world champion boxer Floyd Mayweather. Most recently, she served as the First Lady’s press reporter during President Barack Obama’s U.S.-Africa Summit, Young African Leaders Institute event, and the 2013 presidential trip to Senegal, Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Tanzania. Abena is also a 2015 International Women's Media Foundation Africa Great Lakes Fellow, where she reported on women candidates and Chinese sweatshops in Tanzania for CNN and Refinery29.

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