The Galveston County Daily News

GALVESTON — The woman who was the first in Galveston County to die from swine flu had sought treatment at the University of Texas Medical Branch but was discharged after she was diagnosed with pneumonia, her boyfriend and health officials said Thursday.

Renacia Scott, 31, died four days later as a result of the H1N1 virus, as well as of a secondary infection of viral pneumonia, the Galveston County medical examiner said.

Scott’s boyfriend, Nathan Edwards, and her mother, Theretta Gayben-Miller, said they were not told Scott had died from swine flu until contacted by The Daily News on Thursday.

After reading the newspaper’s stories about a woman’s swine flu death, Edwards thought the descriptions of the woman and timing of her death were similar to those of his girlfriend of three years.

Scott’s funeral was Tuesday, the same day health officials confirmed an isle woman had died as a result of swine flu.

The chief medical examiner, Dr. Stephen Pustilnik, said Scott did not have a pre-existing health condition that contributed to her death and that she generally was healthy. The swine flu, however, weakened her system to the point that she contracted viral pneumonia.

Gayben-Miller, who found out about her daughter’s death from a text message, said she was frustrated health officials did not attempt to tell family members Scott had died of a contagious virus. That frustration grew to anger as she and Edwards talked about the decision by hospital officials not to admit her daughter.

“I was thinking they would not let her go if she was in very bad shape,” Edwards said. “I guess I was wrong.”

Edwards accused the hospital of not admitting his girlfriend when they arrived at the emergency department Oct. 16 because the couple did not have insurance — a claim medical branch officials denied.

Gayben-Miller said she spoke with emergency room officials by phone and “begged them to check her into the hospital.”

“I am very angry they did not help her,” Gayben-Miller said. Scott died Oct. 20 at the home she shared with Edwards in Galveston.

Dr. Steve Quach, interim chief medical officer for the University of Texas Medical Branch, said an internal review of Scott’s case showed that the hospital followed proper protocol and that her lack of medical coverage did not play a role in her treatment plan.

“I can tell you unequivocally that any time there’s a patient that comes into the UTMB emergency department with an acute condition... that condition is treated regardless of insurance status,” Quach said.

He said doctors aren’t aware of patients’ insurance status when deciding to admit or treat them.

The decision to admit patients for swine flu or any other condition is made on a case-by-case basis, Quach said.

There are specific protocols for swine flu and pneumonia that include pinpointing pre-existing conditions and a general assessment of the risk of the infection worsening without hospital treatment.

With swine flu, if the patient is a child or in his or her 20s, doctors do give serious consideration to hospitalization because young people are more susceptible to this year’s strain of the virus, Quach said. Most flu symptom cases that come into the medical branch’s emergency department do not result in hospitalization, Quach said.

A handful do, including one case Thursday in which someone with a likely case of swine flu was admitted, medical branch spokesman Raul Reyes said.

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Swine flu Death Timeline

Oct. 12 — Renacia Scott tells her mother she isn’t feeling well

Oct. 16 — Scott is taken to the UTMB emergency room with severe flu-like symptoms. She is diagnosed with pneumonia, treated at ER and sent home with an antibiotic prescription.

Oct. 20 — Scott’s boyfriend, Nathan Edwards, returns from a football game and finds Scott dead in bed.

Oct. 27 — Memorial service for Scott is conducted in Galveston. The Galveston County Health District confirms a Galveston woman between 30 and 35 died seven days earlier from swine flu, but does not release the woman’s name.

Oct. 29 — Scott’s family and the medical examiner confirm she is the woman who died from swine flu.

Sources: Family, Galveston County Health District, Galveston County Medical Examiner, University of Texas Medical Branch