Last year, 26-year-old nurse Nina Pham became the first person in the United States to catch the Ebola virus. She became infected while attending to Thomas Eric Duncan in Texas Presbyterian Hospital late last year and was discharged on October 24 after being found virus-free.
However, the nurse recently announced that she "is preparing to file a lawsuit Monday in Dallas County against Texas Health Resources," Mashable reported.
"She said she continues to suffer from body aches and insomnia after contracting the disease from a patient she cared for last fall at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas," the site added.
In an interview with The Dallas Morning News, Pham alleged that "the hospital's lack of training and proper equipment and violations of her privacy made her 'a symbol of corporate neglect - a casualty of a hospital system's failure to prepare for a known and impending medical crisis.'"
"I wanted to believe that they would have my back and take care of me, but they just haven't risen to the occasion," she told the publication.
According to Reuters, Pham also said that nurses did not wear hazmat suits when attending to Duncan. Although she wore "double gloves taped to double gowns, double booties and face shields," her neck area wasn't protected.
"Hazmat suits came a few days later but meanwhile, medical waste piled up in a hospital room because maintenance staff would not collect it," the news agency said. Pham explained that the nurses were the ones doing "janitorial work" and took care of the "lethal waste" themselves.
Further, with her lawsuit, she revealed that she wants to "make hospitals and big corporations realize that nurses and health care workers, especially frontline people, are important."
"And we don't want nurses to start turning into patients," she added.
"Pham wants unspecified damages for physical pain and mental anguish, medical expenses and loss of future earnings," Dallas Morning News said.
In response to her lawsuit, Texas Health Resources released the following statement through spokesman Wendell Watson:
"Nina Pham bravely served Texas Health Dallas during a most difficult time. We continue to support and wish the best for her, and we remain optimistic that constructive dialogue can resolve this matter."
Pham wasn't the only nurse infected with the deadly virus at the same hospital. Amber Vinson also caught the disease after attending to Duncan and has since recovered from the infection. It remains unclear whether she will follow suit and sue the hospital as well.
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