Ebola nurse Nina Pham: I had 'no choice' but to sue | MSNBC
Nina Pham speaks outside of National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Md., Oct. 24, 2014.
Photo by Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP
Ebola nurse Nina Pham: I had ‘no choice’ but to sue
03/02/15 03:12 PM Updated 03/02/15 03:14 PM
Nina Pham just wants to know how she got Ebola
Pham, a nurse who survived the deadly disease after being infected while caring for another Ebola patient, is suing her employer for alleged mishandling of the Ebola outbreak in Texas.
“The fact is, I’m facing a number of issues with regard to my health and my career and the lawsuit provides a way to address them.”
In her lawsuit, she says she just wants to know how she contracted the virus. The lawsuit was filed today against Texas Health Resources, the parent company of Texas Presbyterian, the hospital where she worked and is currently still on payroll.
“I was hoping that THR would be more open and honest about everything that happened at the hospital, and the things they didn’t do that led to me getting infected with Ebola,” she said. “That didn’t happen and I felt I was left with no choice but to turn to the courts for help.”
Pham says in her lawsuit that she’s dealing with a number of medical issues and is seeking damages for physical pain, mental anguish, lost future wages, and medical bills.
“The fact is, I’m facing a number of issues with regard to my health and my career and the lawsuit provides a way to address them,” she says. “But more importantly, it will help uncover the truth of what happened, and educate all health care providers and administrators about ways to be better prepared for the next public health emergency. “
RELATED: Nina Pham: ‘Corporate neglect’ gave me Ebola
In the lawsuit, Pham alleges that the hospital poorly prepared her and her colleagues to handle Ebola, resulting in her infection. The information she and other nurses were given on Ebola was printed off the Internet, she said.
“The only thing I knew about Ebola, I learned in nursing school [six years earlier]” she told the Dallas Morning News in an exclusive interview.
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Ebola nurse Nina Pham: I had 'no choice' but to sue