Homas Eric Duncan: 6 ways his case differs from other US Ebola cases

homas Eric Duncan: 6 ways his case differs from other U.S. Ebola cases

His family is devastated. The woman he planned to marry haunted by the "what ifs." And many are wondering why Thomas Eric Duncan died when several other Ebola patients treated in the United States survived.

Duncan was hospitalized eight days after he arrived from Liberia, and later tested positive for Ebola. He died Wednesday.

Here are six ways his case differs from other patients in the U.S.:

He didn't get an experimental drug immediately

Duncan received experimental medicine on October 4 -- six days after admission to hospital. It was a far longer wait than four other Ebola patients treated in the United States. Those patients -- two each at Atlanta's Emory University Hospital and the University of Nebraska Medical Center -- got experimental medicine immediately. They're all U.S. citizens; Duncan was a Liberian.

His family is claiming bias.
"We feel he didn't get the medicine and treatment for the disease because he's African and they don't consider him as important as the other three," said Josephus Weeks, his nephew.

Not so, the hospital says.

Since the drugs are still experimental, individual hospitals have to file the paperwork with the Food and Drug Administration for permission to use it. The hospital declined to tell CNN when it filed for permission.

He was given a different experimental drug

Duncan got the experimental drug, Brincidofovir.

Three patients who survived after treatment in the U.S. received a different drug, ZMapp.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said ZMapp has since been depleted.

"There is, as far as we understand, no more of it in the world. And while people are working hard to manufacture more, it takes a long time to develop," said Dr. Tom Frieden, the CDC director.

A fourth patient, NBC cameraman Ashoka Mukpo, who got infected in Liberia and was airlifted to Nebraska on Sunday, got the same drug as Duncan.

The hospital treating him had no advance notice

The Atlanta and Nebraska facilities knew in advance they were expecting Ebola patients, a crucial element for a disease so rare in the United States.

Hospitals that took care of the four are also among the most well-equipped nationwide to battle the deadly virus.

Despite lack of notification, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital said Duncan got top-notch care and his medical team consulted daily with the CDC and Emory.

Information on his case has been muddled

Details on Duncan's background have not been as clear-cut.

His relatives said he made it clear to the hospital that he had just come from Liberia. His symptoms pointed at Ebola, they said.

Initially, the hospital said Duncan was "not exhibiting symptoms specific to Ebola" when he first went to the hospital. And, they said, details about his travel history weren't communicated to doctors.

But later, the hospital said a flaw in electronic records had kept doctors from seeing his travel history. Then they said his travel history had been documented and was available to his care team.

Family believes his insurance status played a role
Duncan had just arrived from Liberia to visit his girlfriend and son, and probably had no insurance.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who's serving as a spokesman for the family, said that was a concern.

"I would tend to think that those who do not have insurance, those who do not have Medicaid do not have the same priorities as those who do," the civil rights leader said.

But the hospital denied the claim.

Duncan was treated like everyone else "regardless of nationality or ability to pay for care," the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital said.