<p>He may have been hesitant to tell the nurse in the ER that he was exposed to Ebola because he was afraid they would turn him away. After all, he had just come from Liberia where Ebola patients are routinely turned away from hospitals - in fact, he saw that happen first hand with the pregnant neighbor who was taken to multiple hospitals and turned away. She ended up dying at home. That thought had to cross his mind as he was being interviewed in the ER…also factoring in that he had a high fever and was probably close to delirious. The closest he may have gotten to telling the nurse about his actual situation and travel history is “Liberia.” It’s VERY likely that the nurse had no idea where Liberia is located and she probably did not connect it with west Africa. Patients do have the responsibility to tell their physicians EVERYTHING so that they can be properly diagnosed. It is hard enough to get a proper diagnosis with compete clarity, but with obfuscation, forget it!</p>
<p>I can grudgingly understand Louise and his extended family deflecting any “blame” or complicity for his death in their grief. Even if you take the most charitable interpretation of the events that he never suspected the young woman’s death was anything but a miscarriage, it would still be hard to understand why that story of that night didn’t come up anywhere in the proceedings. Whether through heroic action, or ignorance, or negligence he put them at risk and that would be hard to reconcile along with the shock of his illness and death. It frustrates me that Jesse Jackson, along with much of the media have seized on that flailing reaction and run with it to their own ends. As someone who believes that there are areas of real bias that need the attention, this crying wolf feels like a step backwards in credibility which might negatively reflect on other causes (not the least of which is the world response to Ebola in Africa).</p>
<p>Also, seeing as how the airlifted patients were in Liberia putting their lives on the line trying to save Ebola patients and get the story out, it does strike me as less than gracious to invoke their names in a claim of discrimination. </p>
<p>I heard (on npr - should be reliable) that the pregnant young woman was bleeding profusely from her mouth. Are things so bad in Liberia, i.e. so many different illnesses that could cause a young woman to bleed profusely from the mouth, that ebola wouldn’t be the first guess? </p>
<p>exactly . . . that’s some heavy denial if he really didn’t suspect</p>
<p>“Wasn’t that basically what Texas ER did on Duncan’s first vista?”</p>
<p>Yup. Someone questioned why he was given a CT scan. I explained what I heard from an ER doc several years ago. So it is not “doctors sent him home with a few pills” as some earlier reports speculated. I’m glad the hospital released their statement to clarify what they did during his first visit. </p>
<p>I could have misunderstood in all the relationship and timeline confusion but my understanding is that Louise had been in Liberia in August attending to her adult daughter who apparently died in childbirth. That could have been top of mind and guys have been known to be somewhat obtuse in matters related to the details of childbearing. Again, even imaging the most charitable “didn’t know” scenario I would think he would put two and two together when he started to feel ill.</p>
<p>"“Wouldn’t it expedite the visa process if you tell them you are marrying an American citizen?”</p>
<p>First, we have no idea what kind of visa he had. A person coming to marry a US citizen would not apply for a non-immigrant (B visitor visa), they would apply for an immigrant category visa. </p>
<p>“The purpose of your intended travel and other facts will determine what type of visa is required under U.S. immigration law. As a visa applicant, you will need to establish that you meet all requirements to receive the category of visa for which you are applying. When you apply at a U.S embassy or consulate, a consular officer will determine based on laws, whether you are eligible to receive a visa, and if so, which visa category is appropriate.”</p>
<p><a href=“http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/general/all-visa-categories.html”>http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/general/all-visa-categories.html</a></p>
<p>Assume that he had a B-2 type visa. The purpose of the visa is tourism, not marriage. People who manage to come to the US on this type of visa do not run around screaming that they are here to marry, because technically, if someone reports them, they can be deported for violation of their visa terms. They can, however, quietly get married and then apply for adjustment of status while in the US - that would be legal. But they would not be issued the visitor visa in the first place if the consulate officer knew that their intent was to get married, because marriage and “non-immigrant” status do not mesh. </p>
<p>So where’s the mal-practice? The Texas hospital did what they normally do with Duncan before they learned he had an Ebola. Is it a malpractice if you honestly mis-diagonise?</p>
<p>This guy should be in jail and pay the cost:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/09/travel/dominican-ebola-plane-scare/index.html?hpt=hp_t2[/url]”>http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/09/travel/dominican-ebola-plane-scare/index.html?hpt=hp_t2</a></p>
<p>What possessed that idiot!!!</p>
<p>If I had little kids, I would advise them against dressing as a CDC moonsuit clad doctor or Ebola virus or some sort of Ebola victim. Not a joking matter. </p>
<p>I like what the flight attendant said over the plane’s PA system:</p>
<p>
=D> </p>
<p>I saw Duncan’s nephew interviewed again on CNN about an hour ago. When he was told that the blood transfusion could not have taken place because the blood type did not match, he said that blood from a survivor in Africa should have been flown to the hospital. He insisted that the death was due to Duncan’s race.</p>
<p>I have to admit that I am a bit confused. Had Duncan seen Louise or the nephew in the last 10 years?</p>
<p>Blood from a survivor in Africa? Wow. How would you find such a person? Just ask around? Would it be ethical to pay a volunteer? Even if such a person is found, imagine a logistical nightmare! Getting all consents and approvals for drawing the blood, testing the blood, etc. would take some time! Would the blood from a volunteer have made any difference if it had arrived so late in the game? </p>
<p>I think that Josephus Weeks is probably the son of Duncan’s sister. He is obviously well spoken, very American, and suspicious of potential racism. </p>
<p>I can’t blame him, but I do think that when it comes to the medical treatment his uncle received, he is probably wrong. </p>
<p>It is a question, though: Dr. Brantley received a blood transfusion from an African before being flown to the US. IIRC the doctor who was treated in Nebraska received a transfusion from him, since their types were compatible and they were both in the US. I have the distinct impression that this was a “throw everything at the wall and see what sticks” course of action. If Brantley had arrived in the US without a transfusion, would Samaritan’s Purse have paid for blood to be flown to the US for him? I tend to think–based on no evidence at all, I freely admit–that it wouldn’t even have occurred to them. The transfusion measure seemed to me to be kind of a Hail Mary pass based on nothing better to do plus availability.</p>
<p>I have no idea how recently various members of the family have seen each other in the flesh, but there have been visits and people have kept in touch via the internet, including Skype.</p>
<p>We don’t even know that the blood made a difference in those who DID survive. It could be just dumb luck. It is not a proven treatment but, as Consolation said, a medical Hail Mary. I did not hear the interview but if it is as reported I hope that journalists aren’t humoring him. </p>
<p>Are they saying not getting blood from Africa amounts to a malpractice?</p>
<p>This is starting to sound like the Jahi McMath thread…</p>
<p>Luoise had seen Duncan in Liberiai n August. However, he had not seen his son since he was three. And, there was no mention of Skyping. Basically, the impression I got was that they were estranged because he and Louise were estranged for nearly all of his life and she was married and divorced from someone else and had a bunch of other children during that time. Her kids range in age from mid-thirties to 13. One half brother said he had last seen him about 9 years ago. I doubt he met his kids. And, the reports were that he was here on a tourist Visa.</p>
<p>Yes, there WAS mention of skyping. Duncan’s half brother, Wilfred Smallwood, said THEY talked by text, internet, etc.</p>
<p>What exactly is the point you are trying to make, Flossy? Louise’s D called him her step-daddy. Other players are half brothers, nephews, mother, fiancee/GF, etc. If they feel that they are his family they are his g-d family!</p>
<p>My S’s godfather lives near us. His parents are dead, he has no siblings and no spouse or children. We are probably the closest thing to “family” for him, closer than his blood cousins. If he fell ill, WE are the people who would be taking care of him. We regard him as family. Are you going to tell me that he isn’t our family? Really? </p>
<p>Or do our notions of family count because we are middle-class white Americans?</p>