The Omaha guide., 1933-09-30

A1OW q WOlldn ou11C1lAS LAOhA
sleeping sickness lay at home for
four days before she died, attended
only by two medical students, was
Confusion as to whether the city,
county Or university was responsible
for her care was blamed for the
situation.
The woman was Mrs Mary Theg-
pen, So a colored woman, who lived at
2640 Seward streat
Mrs Thegpen was taken i'll 10
days ago and a week ago today
friends in the house called the Uni
versity Of Nebraska dispensary. Two
senior students on out call work,
Charles w. Pemberton, Kirksville,
Missouri, and Clyde S Martin, Hast
ings, Nebraska, responded
Found Sleeping Sickness
Suspecting sleeping sickness they
notified two staff members, DR. A
E. Bennett and DR. Oliver c Nick
UNI, who took spinal punctures the
next morning (Thusday) and dia-
gnosed the case as lethargic ence-
phalitis, or true sleeping sickness.
At noon Thursday Martin called the
city health department, giving formal
notice Of the diagnosis.
Under the agreement between city,
county, university health authorities,
according to DR.. G. w. M Poynter,
dean of the medical college, students
retire from cases as soon as they are
diagnosed as contagious.
E~ncephalits, or sleeping sickness,
has not been established as conta-
gious, DR.. Poynter says, but from the
fact that the city guarantees houses
in which cases occur he presumed that
it was considered contagious If con-
tagious. the city health department
would be expected to care for the
case.
Martin said he assumed the city
would take over the case but that he
and Pemberton returned next day to
make sure They found that the city
had put up a quarantine sign, warn
ing persons against entering or
leaving the place, but that no city
physician had responded.
They then sought to have the WON
an admitted to the university hos
pital, as the care given her a home,
by her daughter and the landlady at
the house, was not adequate.
The university hospital, DR.. Poyn-
ter said, takes no contagious cases,
having nc isolation ward. though &C.
casionally inc gets in before it is
diagnosed In this case, admittance
was refused as a matter of course,
not to ~endanger other patients
Find Patient Worse
Martin and Pemberton returned
the next two days, finding no doctor
had been around, and on Sunday
found Mrs Thegpen much worse.
They then called the county hos
pital and talked to DR.. Charles ]
Shramek, superintendent, who re-
ferred them to Dr.. Lee Van Camp,
county physician
DR.. Van Camp said that the case
was contagious and that under the
city county agreement, the city was
responsible for all contagious and
emergency cases. He referred them
to DR.. F. H. Kinyoun, city physi-
clan.
Martin said he then called DR..
Kinyoun, who referred the call to
DR.. A. Greenberg, who is in charge
Of the city detention hospital on low
er Douglas street.
Students Quit Case
DR.. Greenberg, according to Mar
tin said he had no facilities at the
hospital to care for a sleeping sick
ness case and referred Martin to DR..
Van Camp.
Having completed the circuit, Mar
tin said, he decided that, as a stud.
ent, he was being placed in a bad
placed in a bad position. so he called
the city health department and an
nounced that he and Pemberton were
withdrawing from the case.
Mrs Thegpen died Tuesday morn
ing, without further care.
DR.. Kinyoun, asked about the case,
said he believed the health depart
ment had been notified of the case
only the night before Mrs Thegpen
died Monday. Someone called at
that time, he said, and announced that
the student was being taken off the
case Before anything could be done,
he said, the undertaken had called