West African Man Suing North Jersey Pharmacy, Hospital for 'Invasive' Ebola Testing

An Ivory Coast man living in Hackettstown has sued a number of private and public entities for allegedly illegally detaining him and testing him for Ebola when he did not have the potentially fatal disease.

Ouattara Sana, 43, filed suit in Superior Court in Belvidere this month and seeks damages for false imprisonment, assault and discrimination, nj.com reported.

Sana names defendants Rite Aid, the Warren County Health Department and Sheriff’s Office, Hackettstown First Aid & Rescue Squad, Hackettstown Police and Hackettstown Regional Medical Center.

According to the suit, Sana went to Rite Aid to ask the pharmacist about a diarrhea problem last October, the report said. When the employee asked where Sana was from and if he had a fever, Sana said he had not been sick in the five months he lived in the U.S. and left the store, the report said.

The suit claims the employee then asked him back into the store, claiming they found medication for his diarrhea, and took Sana’s temperature several times to keep him in the pharmacy while health officials were called, the report said.

He was then taken to Hackettstown Regional Medical Center where he remained for seven hours.

According to a Patch report when the incident occurred, the Rite Aid was closed for roughly an hour after Sana was removed from the store. The original report claims Sana was questioned and checked by the Hackettstown Rescue Squad and was given the all-clear regarding a positive Ebola test.