John Wiley Price Suggests Race A Factor In Dallas Ebola Case
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DALLAS (CBS 11 NEWS) - Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price was blunt. He said Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital originally sent Thomas Duncan home three days before he was diagnosed with Ebola because he's African and uninsured.
"It is historical what has happened in this community," Price said. "If a person who looks like me shows up without any insurance, they don't get the same treatment."
CBS 11 News asked the hospital if it had a response to Mr. Price's statement and comments made in Dallas earlier Tuesday by Civil Rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson claiming that Duncan may have initially been medically mishandled by Texas Health Presbyterian.
Texas Health Resources spokesperson Candace White sent a statement that said, "He [Duncan] was treated the way any other patient would have been treated, regardless of nationality or ability to pay for care. We have a long history of treating a multicultural community in this area."
County Judge Clay Jenkins says there will be a full accounting once the Ebola scare has passed. "It's important," he said. "It's a fair question."
Federal and state authorities say they are now considering a full investigation into whether there were deficiencies in the hospital's procedures.
Judge Jenkins is confident the truth will become clear. "I'm confident there will be an exhaustive look at this by a variety of sources."
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