2007 tuberculosis scare

In January 2007, Speaker suffered a fall and went to the doctor, concerned that he had bruised a rib. Doctors X-rayed his chest and found an abnormality that required further testing.{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/news/specials/tb/ |accessdate=16 April 2016 |title=A Timeline of Andrew Speaker's Infection, June, 2007 |publisher=NPR}}

On March 28, 2007, his doctors and the health department believed the tuberculosis (TB) strain that Speaker had was a resistant one and communicated this to the CDC. On May 1 the apparent MDR TB infection was discussed with the CDC lab by his doctors and they discussed discontinuing the treatment he was on at that time. On May 9 the suspicion of MDR TB was confirmed. A meeting was held with Fulton County Health Officials, his doctors, his fiancée, as well as his father and father-in-law on May 10, 2007. During this meeting, Speaker was informed that while he was not considered contagious or a threat to other, he would need to travel to Denver for treatment. After weeks of arranging this, he was still advised—or in some accounts—strongly recommended, not to travel.

On May 12, 2007, Speaker flew from the U.S. to Paris. On May 14, he flew on to Athens and, two days later, flew to the Aegean holiday island of Santorini for his wedding. Speaker then flew to Rome for his honeymoon.

Doctors say that only after Speaker left the United States did they realize he likely had XDR-TB. Speaker says that he was informed of MDR TB before leaving the country, and that while officials preferred him not to fly, they said that he was not a threat and was not required to wear a mask.[http://www.healthnewsdigest.com/news/Disease_420/Diagnosed_with_a_Rare_Form_of_Tuberculosis_-.shtml Andrew Speaker Says He's Being Unfairly Attacked] by Eve Conant, Newsweek, 2 Jun 2007. Accessed 2009-04-30. [https://web.archive.org/web/20071228233731/http://www.healthnewsdigest.com/news/Disease_420/Diagnosed_with_a_Rare_Form_of_Tuberculosis_-.shtml Archived] 2009-05-21. Once Speaker was in Europe, however, test results showed his strain of tuberculosis was even rarer than originally thought, leading public health officials to try to persuade Speaker to turn himself in to Italian health authorities.[http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/06/07/tb.borders/index.html "TB patient insists he was never banned from travel"]. CNN. June 7, 2007[https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3344625&page=1 "CDC Stands by Decision to Sound Public Alarm"]. ABC News. July 4, 2007 The CDC informed him that there were no options for the CDC to get him home, and that he would have to arrange private transportation. Speaker instead flew by commercial jet to Prague and then on to Montréal.Park, Alice. [https://web.archive.org/web/20070602170446/http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1627159,00.html "The TB Scare: A Broken System?"] Time. May 31, 2007. Both Speaker and his new wife claimed that, had they been offered transport, they would have accepted it and would have waited in Rome.Mike McPhee, [http://www.denverpost.com/sportscolumnists/ci_6037621 TB patient apologizes] Denver Post. June 1, 2007. Accessed 2009-04-30. [https://web.archive.org/web/20071214084657/http://www.denverpost.com/sportscolumnists/ci_6037621 Archived] 2009-05-21. Speaker has also said that the CDC told him they were going to send officials to put him in Italian quarantine for up to two years, and that he was not told special transportation was arranged.

Once in Montréal, Speaker rented a car and drove across the Canada–United States border. A Customs and Border Protection Officer, after passing Speaker's passport through the Treasury Enforcement Communications System (TECS), failed to detain him at the frontier despite a warning to hold the traveler, wear a protective mask when dealing with him, and call health authorities, stating that Speaker "did not look sick".{{cite news | url=http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=71772 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120719204500/http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=71772 | url-status=dead | archive-date=2012-07-19 | publisher=Fox News | accessdate=2007-06-11 | title=Border agent fired after allowing TB patient into country }}

According to the CDC, Speaker flew on the following flights:{{cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/tb/xdrtb/caseflighthistory.htm |title=Flight Itinerary of U.S. Traveler with Extensively Drug–Resistant Tuberculosis (XDR TB) (May 30, 2007) |publisher=Cdc.gov |accessdate=2008-11-08| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081012223701/http://www.cdc.gov/tb/xdrtb/caseflighthistory.htm| archive-date= 12 October 2008 | url-status= live}}

On May 31, 2007, Speaker was moved from Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta to the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver, Colorado, for further treatment.{{cite news|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,276613,00.html |title=Foxnews.com: TB Patient moved to Denver hospital, May 31, 2007 |publisher=Foxnews.com |date=May 31, 2007 |accessdate=2008-11-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081002135315/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C276613%2C00.html |archive-date=2 October 2008 |url-status=live }}

It was reported that Speaker's father-in-law, Robert C. Cooksey, works for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is a microbiologist who has conducted research on tuberculosis, according to his CDC biography posted on the agency's Web site.{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/conditions/05/31/tb.flight/index.html |title=CNN web site: TB patient's name released; father-in-law works at CDC |publisher=Cnn.com |accessdate=2008-11-08 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080308192527/http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/conditions/05/31/tb.flight/index.html |archive-date = 2008-03-08}}

Wearing a medical mask, Speaker was interviewed by Diane Sawyer on the June 1 edition of the American talk show Good Morning America on ABC and apologized to all passengers, explaining that he had not intended to endanger them.{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=3231184&page=1 |title=ABCNews.com: TB Patient: "I Really Believed I Wasn't Putting People at Risk" June 1, 2007 |publisher=Abcnews.go.com |accessdate=2008-11-08| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080929161834/https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=3231184&page=1| archive-date= 29 September 2008 | url-status= live}}

On July 4, 2007, the National Jewish Medical and Research Center announced, and the CDC confirmed, that Speaker's earlier diagnosis was incorrect and that he instead had multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), a more treatable form of tuberculosis.{{cite news | url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/07/03/tb.speaker/index.html | publisher=CNN | accessdate=2007-07-04 | title=Doctors: TB traveler's diagnosis more treatable than thought | date=2007-07-04| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070712192138/http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/07/03/tb.speaker/index.html#cnnSTCVideo| archive-date= 12 July 2007 | url-status= live}} On July 26, 2007, Speaker was discharged after undergoing surgery to remove infected lung tissue and receiving antibiotic treatment. A statement by his physicians said that he was no longer contagious, showed no detectable evidence of infection, and that he would continue antibiotic therapy for approximately two years.{{cite web |title=TB-infected lawyer released from hospital |website=CNN.com |date=2007-07-26 |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/conditions/07/26/tb.speaker/ |access-date=2024-07-26}}

In 2007, seven Canadians and two Czechs sued Speaker in Montreal Superior Court; eight of the plaintiffs were on the same flight as Andrew Speaker and one was related to one of the passengers.{{cite web |title=Plane passengers sue TB patient - CNN.com |website=www.cnn.com |date=2007-07-12 |url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/conditions/07/12/tb.suit/ |access-date=2024-07-26}}

In 2009, Speaker sued the CDC for invasion of privacy, claiming that the release of his personal and medical information caused significant harm to his reputation and marriage.{{cite web |last=Mashnitski |first=Aleksandr |title=Andrew Speaker Sues CDC Over Handling of '07 TB Scare |website=FindLaw |date=2009-04-30 |url=https://www.findlaw.com/legalblogs/personal-injury/andrew-speaker-sues-cdc-over-handling-of-07-tb-scare/ |access-date=2024-07-26}}{{cite web |title=Lawyer in 2007 TB scare sues CDC |website=CNN.com |date=2009-04-30 |url=https://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/04/30/tb.lawsuit/ |access-date=2024-07-26}} The lawsuit was dismissed later in 2009 by a U.S. District Court judge,{{cite web |last=Poole |first=Shelia M. |title=Judge dismisses Andrew Speaker suit against CDC |website=ajc |date=2009-11-23 |url=https://www.ajc.com/lifestyles/health/judge-dismisses-andrew-speaker-suit-against-cdc/ehv6jFCI7MySuQEayZU3aK/ |access-date=2024-07-26}} revived in 2010 by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and finally dismissed again in 2012 by a U.S. District Court judge.{{cite web |last=Rankin |first=Bill |title=Suit over TB case dismissed against CDC |website=ajc |date=2012-03-15 |url=https://www.ajc.com/news/local/suit-over-case-dismissed-against-cdc/9YJOM4njy0qZtsn0jP8CIN/ |access-date=2024-07-26}}

Speaker was in New York when the CDC served him with an isolation order but CDC director Julie Gerberding stated that the government was legally constrained prior to that order. The federal statute under section 361 of the Public Health Service Act grants the federal government the ability to isolate or quarantine individuals but only those coming into the country from a foreign nation or territory.{{cite news | url=http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1181207137498 | publisher=Law.com | accessdate=2007-06-08 | title=The Legal Questions Behind the TB Case}}{{Cite web |last=CDC |date=2024-04-17 |title=Legal Authorities for Isolation and Quarantine |url=https://www.cdc.gov/port-health/legal-authorities/isolation-quarantine.html#:~:text=Under%20section%20361%20of%20the%20Public%20Health%20Service,countries%20into%20the%20United%20States%20and%20between%20states. |access-date=2024-09-27 |website=Port Health |language=en-us}}

Georgia TB law may have required Speaker to be confined for two weeks and only allowed travel for medical appointments.{{cite news | url=http://www.physorg.com/news103981421.html | publisher=Physorg.com | accessdate=2007-07-18 | title=TB patient travel may have been illegal| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070826171751/http://www.physorg.com/news103981421.html| archive-date= 26 August 2007 | url-status= live}} A court confinement order can isolate a patient only after the infected patient ignores medical advice. This method can be overridden by a declaration of public health emergency by the governor of Georgia.

• Progress of the SARS outbreak for a comparison to another news-worthy international quarantining incident, 2002–2004

{{reflist|30em}}

{{Wikinews|US tuberculosis patient moved to Denver hospital | US places man with TB under quarantine, launches search for contactees}}

• [https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=3231184&page=1 Interview with Andrew Speaker]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070709021737/http://www.phppo.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/transcripts/t070529.htm Official transcript of CDC briefing session on the Speaker case]

{{DEFAULTSORT:2007 Tuberculosis Scare}}

Category:Tuberculosis

Category:Health disasters in the United States

Tuberculosis Scare, 2007

Category:2007 health disasters

Category:Scares