The family of Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian man who died of Ebola in Dallas last month, said Tuesday that it has settled with the hospital that initially sent him home when he arrived sick.
Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Les Weisbrod, a lawyer for the family, said that it would be enough to “take care” of Duncan’s parents and his four children, who range in age from 12 to 22. He also said the hospital was not charging the family for the care.
The company that owns Texas Health Presbyterian, the hospital where Duncan died, will also create a charitable trust for Ebola victims in Africa, he said.
“I believe this facility is an outstanding facility,” said Josephus Weeks, a nephew of Duncan. “And we as humans — we’re not perfect, we make errors, but it’s how you recover from errors that make you who you are.”
Weisbrod said that the family wants a book or movie produced to depict Duncan’s ordeal, “but the family would also like to see that something like this doesn’t happen to anybody else.”
Duncan showed up sick at the hospital Sept. 25, told staff there that he had traveled from Africa and was mistakenly sent home. He returned Sept. 28 by ambulance and was diagnosed with Ebola. He died Oct. 8. Some of his relatives were quarantined for three weeks.
The hospital took out full-page ads in two Dallas newspapers and apologized for “mistakes” in how it handled Duncan’s case.
Two nurses who treated Duncan, Nina Pham and Amber Vinson, were infected themselves. They were treated in special isolation units at hospitals elsewhere in the country and were later declared free of Ebola.
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