Sweeping Tuberculosis Under the Carpet

Remember Andrew Speaker?

Remember how he had tuberculosis?

Remember how he threatened the lives of others?

Well, meet Franklin Greenwood. Franklin, a fifty year old citizen of Arkansas also has tuberculosis. You see, he had been held in isolation at the University of Arkansas for Medical Science after X-rays found he had a disease in his lungs that was pretty consistent with TB. However, there was a slight problem. On July 1st, Mr. Greenwood jumped out of his third floor apartment and escaped. According to one health official, there were going to be no plans to inform the public that Mr. Greenwood was on the loose:

"We never would have gone public. This is not our initiative," said Dr. Joe Bates, deputy state health officer. "This is an exceedingly rare experience and we don't have a standard protocol, but its always worked well for us to deal with it like we did with in this way -- find the person and get them under treatment."

That's excellent. I'm really glad the state of Arkansas has the best interests of their citizens in mind. Let the crazy man with a deadly illness that can potentially spread and kill others roam free without warning. What a splendid idea that would've been. Of course, while the Andrew Speaker story is still getting plenty of press (according to Google News Search, there are two thousand or so stories featuring his name), the Franklin Greenwood story has gotten only a minuscule amount of coverage (88 links).

Considering this was a major, major fuck up that is still unresolved (he hasn't been caught yet, folks), you'd think the media could try a little bit more and cover a story that has current relevance.

Family defends TB traveler Andrew Speaker; Stephen Colbert takes a vacation

Family members are defending Andrew Speaker, the man who recently traveled to Europe and back despite knowing he was infected with drug-resistant tuberculosis:

Cheryl Speaker said she wanted the world to know she and her family did not believe their acts were reckless.

"We are not people of reckless behavior," she said.

...

Questions exist about a meeting with local health officials before the trip to Greece. Officials say they told Andrew Speaker he would put others at risk by traveling abroad for the wedding and then returning home on a commercial flight.

"We asked him [the official] repeatedly during that meeting, 'Is he contagious?' All times they said, 'No, you're not contagious,'" Ted Speaker said.

Other family members agreed that no ambiguity had existed about whether Andrew Speaker could pass the illness along to others.

"Then he said of course, 'I prefer you not to travel. I prefer you just say here,'" Ted Speaker said. He said the official never gave a reason why.

"Well, are, are you just saying this to cover yourself?" Ted Speaker said he asked the official. "And he said, 'Yes,'" Ted Speaker said.

Ted Speaker claims to have an audiotape of the conversation. Here's a copy of the letter officials say they tried to deliver to Specter after their meeting on May 10:

The Fulton County Department of Health and Wellness (redacted) has been notified that you are planning to travel to Greece on May 14, 2007. As a precaution it is strongly recommended that you postpone your travel and see a (redacted) specialist in Denver, Colorado. In the event you do not comply with this recommendation the Fulton County Department of Health and Wellness (redacted) cannot be responsible for the exposure of this (redacted) to the public. It is imperative that you are aware that you are traveling against medical advice (AMA).

Andrew Speaker's family say they were never told he was a risk to anyone. So the situation remains unclear for now. In the meantime, Stephen Colbert went on vacation:

Bad Idea of the Week II : Tuberculosis Edition

By now you've almost certainly heard of the man infected with drug-resistant tuberculosis who traveled to Greece for his wedding despite being warned not to fly, and how he snuck back into the country through Canada because he was afraid he might die overseas. Well, he apologized today:

Andrew Speaker, interviewed on the “Good Morning America” program on the ABC network in his hospital room in Denver, said “I don’t expect those people to ever forgive me. I just hope they understand that I truly never meant them any harm.”
...

Jason Vik, 21, a passenger on the outgoing flight who just graduated from the University of South Carolina, Aiken, is now waiting for results of a TB skin test.

Mr. Vik spoke angrily about Mr. Speaker’s behavior. “He stepped on a plane with 487 people, one of the largest aircraft that Boeing makes, and he put us all at risk, just so he could go get married,” he said.

Hopping onto a plane while infected with drug-resistant TB? Apparently not even wearing a surgical mask to protect your fellow passengers? Congratulations, Mr. Andrew Speaker, that's good makes you the winner of my second Bad Idea of the Week Award. (You certainly outshine the guy who won the first one; all he did was blog during his malpractice trail.) You won't be able to hog it all for yourself, though; you have to share it with the border agent who let you into the country:

Congressional investigators, who will be holding hearings on the way the case of the man, Andrew Speaker, has been handled, say that the border agent at the Plattsburgh, N.Y., border crossing with Canada decided that Mr. Speaker did not look sick and so let him go.Russ Knocke, press secretary for the Homeland Security Department, would not confirm the agent’s rationale for releasing the man, saying only that the case was under investigation by its internal affairs and inspector general’s offices.

...

A day earlier, on May 23, the disease control centers alerted the Atlanta office of Customs and Border Protection, a part of the Homeland Security Department, that a man with a serious medical condition might try to enter the United States and the information was entered in the department’s computer system.

The department instructed any border control agents who encountered the man to “isolate, detain and contact the Public Health Service,” Mr. Knocke said.

Here's to you, Mr. Border Agent, for letting this man into the country because he didn't "look sick." That's the type of common sense we need more in America. After all, whoever heard of someone carrying a disease without showing any symptoms? It's about time someone put those quarantine-happy panic-mongers at the CDC in their place. Today they want to "isolate and detain" people with drug-resistant tuberculosis; tomorrow they'll be shipping kids with chickenpox off to Guantanamo. This act of courage earns you a share of my second Bad Idea of the Week Award.

UPDATE: Hello, Wall Street Journal readers. I'm glad you could stop by! (Thanks to Sphere.) Take a look around. Our focus here at One More Political Blog is primarily on international relations, American politics, and the law. Enjoy.