Many people have heard of the man who flew half way around the world knowing he had TB— and we know now that he has, and HAD a very dangerous form of this disease. Many questions have arisen over this. Why did he leave, travel, when he was advised not to? And did this educated lawyer REALLY not think this disease was worthy of a medical doctors advice to not travel? I doubt it. Another strange factor in this is the fact his father in law works for the CDC and his area of expertise and research is TB. Also, just HOW did this man get to travel when his name showed on the NO FLY lists all over the world? Reports tell us a border agent allowed him back into the US even though his name was on the LIST. The Greek government claims a wedding never took place.

He says he’s sorry. And more questions have come to light:

DENVER (AP) – The Atlanta lawyer quarantined with a dangerous strain of tuberculosis apologized to fellow airline passengers in an interview aired Friday, and insisted he was told before he set out for his wedding in Europe that he wasn’t a threat to anyone.

“I’ve lived in this state of constant fear and anxiety and exhaustion for a week now, and to think that someone else is now feeling that, I wouldn’t want anyone to feel that way. It’s awful,” Andrew Speaker, speaking through a face mask, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” from his hospital room in Denver.

Meanwhile, questions arose as to whether the wedding even took place. The mayor of the island of Santorini in Greece, Angelos Rousso, told The Associated Press: “There was no wedding. They came for a marriage but they did not have the required papers.” He said the couple stayed in a hotel for three days and then left.

In the TV interview, Speaker, wearing street clothes, repeatedly apologized to the dozens of airline passengers and crew members now anxiously awaiting the results of their TB tests.

There is a legal side to all of this as well:

ATLANTA (AP) – The case of a jet-setting tuberculosis patient might soon shift from the hospital wards to the courts. The patient, Andrew Speaker, an Atlanta personal injury attorney, could sue the federal government for being quarantined on the basis of federal regulations that some scholars see as unconstitutional.

He wouldn’t stand a chance. Period.

A more likely issue and one that WOULD stick:

Or Speaker could be sued by fellow airline passengers, especially if any caught the disease from him – which some legal scholars say is much more likely.

“He may be personally liable if someone contracts TB” from being near him on his recent flights to and from Europe, said Peter Jacobson, a University of Michigan professor of public health law. “I can see a jury coming down very hard on someone like that who willfully ignored advice not to travel.”

It’s highly unlikely anyone actually caught TB from him, but not impossible. As of now, governments of many nations are seeking over 107 people who potentially may have come into close enough contact with Mr. Speaker and potentially have been infected.

Speaker’s form of TB is very resistant to common drugs. He will spend weeks, perhaps months, getting treatment. This could include surgery.

“The vast majority of these cases — 98 percent or more — can be treated with medications alone,” he said.

But he said in the case of extremely drug-resistant TB, antibiotics may not be available to treat the infection.

Thursday, doctors at National Jewish planned to try two more antibiotics against the extensively drug-resistant disease — one oral, the other an intravenous injection.

Dr. Henry Boom, director of the tuberculosis research unit at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, said such a “cocktail” is a common strategy for a resistant case like Speaker’s.
[...]
If drug therapy turns out to be ineffective, doctors may turn to a treatment that was practiced even before the age of antibiotics — surgery to remove the infected part of the lung.

This option — one that Boom calls “stone age” — may actually help, as cutting out a large proportion of the infected tissue in the lung may give the body a head start in fighting whatever disease remains.

But if it comes to surgery, Ohl said timing and expertise will be crucial.

“There are very few surgeons left in the United States with expertise in knowing when to do surgery for tuberculosis,” Ohl said.

“If they wait too long, he may be too sick to get through a difficult surgery. But if they operate too early, he may be exposed to unnecessary surgery.”

It’s too soon to assess Mr. Speaker’s chances of survival. He appears to be a healthy man right now. But…

The slow progress of the disease also means that it will be hard to assess Speaker’s chances of survival and recovery for now.

“I think the fact that he is young and otherwise healthy is certainly a point in his favor,” Schluger said “I think it is a good sign for him.”

Another thing that Speaker and his team of doctors have on their side is time.

“This is not one of those things where the patient is healthy on one day, deathly ill the next, and the next day is no longer with us,” Boom said.

Ohl agreed. “This is not an incredible emergency. This is a disease that progresses very slowly, so doctors have some time to make a full assessment.”

I do hope he makes a full recovery, and that he hasn’t infected other people. I also DO think he should be held to some account for his actions. He’s mincing words, but he was advised NOT to travel. He chose to disregard this medical advice. And now we have questions about his entire story; is he being an honest player here? Is his father in law (questionable FIL) hiding something? It’s really a good thing this isn’t something much more deadly, like small pox. Because if it were we would have tens of thousands, if not MANY more people, infected and dying as I type. A pandemic for sure.