U.S. hospital retracts explanation for missed, now-critical Ebola diagnosis

The Texas hospital that failed to initially identify and isolate the country’s first Ebola patient in its emergency room is now backtracking on its explanation for the error. Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas first said they had “thoroughly reviewed the chain of events” and blamed a flawed computer system for its staff not recognizing that Liberian native Thomas Duncan was at high-risk for having the deadly disease. Late Friday – 24 hours after releasing the details in “in the interest of transparency” – the hospital reversed part of its account. Unlike before, they said Duncan’s travel history was visible to all in the hospital’s electronic health record (EHR) system. But as of Saturday afternoon, no other explanation for the oversight has been given.

I don’t know if we know what we have going on here in Dallas. We’re kind of like the dog that caught the car – what are we going to do with it now?

Dallas resident Don Petty

Duncan is now in critical condition, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas said on Saturday. He had previously been described as being in serious condition. Also Saturday, federal health officials said they do not believe two sick passengers removed from a United Airlines flight that landed on Saturday at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey are infected with the Ebola virus, according to a local media report. The two passengers were believed to be from Liberia and were exhibiting signs of illness during the flight, the reports said.

Americas Dallas Ebola