Health Secretary: Dallas hospital needed 'much better oversight' in Ebola treatment
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell said Wednesday that the government should have used "much better oversight" of the Dallas hospital where two health care workers became infected with Ebola.
Two workers who treated Thomas Eric Duncan, the first U.S. patient with Ebola, caught the disease while treating Duncan at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. Burwell made the statements during an appearance on NBC's Today, adding that the government "will keep all options and considerations right now" for treatment of the two workers. Burwell said that the government will provide "more intensive training for workers," as well as having a 24-hour "site manager" to "oversee how equipment is being put on and taken off," The Associated Press reports.
Burwell's statements come after Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, made similar statements about the hospital's Ebola procedure. On Tuesday, National Nurses United also accused the hospital of protocol breaches in Duncan's care.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.
-
Saudi Arabia could become an AI focal pointUnder the Radar A state-backed AI project hopes to rival China and the United States
-
What you need to know about last-minute travelThe Week Recommends You can book an awesome trip with a moment’s notice
-
Codeword: October 29, 2025The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
FDA OKs generic abortion pill, riling the rightSpeed Read The drug in question is a generic version of mifepristone, used to carry out two-thirds of US abortions
-
RFK Jr. vaccine panel advises restricting MMRV shotSpeed Read The committee voted to restrict access to a childhood vaccine against chickenpox
-
Texas declares end to measles outbreakSpeed Read The vaccine-preventable disease is still spreading in neighboring states, Mexico and Canada
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agencySpeed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year highSpeed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, changeSpeed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panelspeed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kidsSpeed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
