The complaint alleges Texas Health Resources (hospital parent corporation) is liable for gross negligence, deception, and invasion of privacy. Pham claims they failed to provide her and the other nurses proper personal protective equipment (PPE), instructions and training in the context of a known threat of Ebola.
The Dallas Morning News reported that she plans to sue for damages because of the effects of the disease causing health problems that have lingered. A copy of the complaint is linked to the article.
Typically, employees who are injured in the course of their employment must seek recovery through worker's compensation, which normally has categories of recovery in a very structured formula. But worker's compensation does not address these claims of gross negligence, deception and invasion of privacy leaving Pham free to file a complaint in the judicial system outside of the statutorily provided compensation system for employees.
It is clear that the effects of the Ebola outbreak that came to America are not over for the victims of Ebola or for the U.S..
The Dallas Morning News reported that she plans to sue for damages because of the effects of the disease causing health problems that have lingered. A copy of the complaint is linked to the article.
Typically, employees who are injured in the course of their employment must seek recovery through worker's compensation, which normally has categories of recovery in a very structured formula. But worker's compensation does not address these claims of gross negligence, deception and invasion of privacy leaving Pham free to file a complaint in the judicial system outside of the statutorily provided compensation system for employees.
It is clear that the effects of the Ebola outbreak that came to America are not over for the victims of Ebola or for the U.S..
I think this makes it clear that the hospitals in the United States lack adequate emergency readiness. The outbreak of Ebola was very limited, but nurses and hospital staff still got sick. What would happen if a disease that spread rapidly came to the United States? Would our hospital staff know how to handle it? I think that hospitals in the United States need to develop protocol and train their employees on the proper procedure when they are handling a patient that is highly contagious from an unknown or incurable disease. This means that the CDC needs to come up with guidelines to issue each hospital in regards to their response to such disease. I believe she has every right to sue the hospital for not preparing her for a disease outbreak, such as Ebola.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that the nurse is suing the hospital. The initial question that I asked myself is how the nurse is getting around the workers comp issue. However, the article did a good job of answering my question.
ReplyDeletePham certainly has merit to file a suit because her privacy is injured. Although it looks like Pham was consented to release information to the public, a doctor who treated Pham noted that Pham was unable to make her own clinical decisions at the time she discussed the consent form. A doctor also filmed Pham in her hospital bed and released a recorded film to public instead of keeping a promise to use solely for educational purpose. Therefore, I think Pham has a claim for invasion of privacy against THR.
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