Nina Pham, a nurse who was the first person infected with Ebola in the United States, is suing the hospital that she says used her as a public relations “pawn.”
“I wanted to believe that they would have my back and take care of me, but they just haven’t risen to the occasion,” Pham said to the Dallas Morning News.
The lawsuit accuses Texas Health Resources of having improper procedures, equipment and training to deal with Ebola. Pham and another nurse were infected by a patient at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas last October.
Pham, 26, also said that the hospital violated her privacy by releasing video of her in a hospital room without her permission, Reuters reports. The video showed a heartfelt goodbye from a doctor before she was transferred to the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
CNN reports Pham said she still suffers from fatigue, aches, anxiety and nightmares. The stigma of being the “Ebola nurse” may mean that her young career in health care may already be over.
The family of Thomas Eric Duncan, the source of the infection, has also sued. Duncan, 45, was visiting from Liberia when he fell ill with Ebola symptoms. Texas Presbyterian initially sent him home. By the time Duncan returned to the hospital, his condition had worsened and he later died. The hospital settled for an undisclosed amount.
Pham and another nurse who treated Duncan, Amber Joy Vinson, were treated early and survived.
“As distressing as the lawsuit is to us, we remain optimistic that we can resolve this matter with Nina,” Texas Health Resources said in a statement.
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa that began in 2014 is the worst in history, with nearly 24,000 cases and 10,000 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The outbreak resulted in a handful of Ebola cases in the U.S., mostly from healthcare workers returning from that region after providing aid.
Gavin Stern is a national digital producer with the Scripps National Desk.
