Friday, June 01, 2007

Man With TB Apologizes for Putting Passengers at Risk

Andrew Speaker, a 31-year-old lawyer from Atlanta, sat down with Diane Sawyer to explain his side of the decision he made to travel with TB that has ignited an international controversy. He said doctors strongly recommended that he not travel to his wedding in Greece, but never did they forbid him. His father, also a lawyer, recorded the meeting, he said. "My father said, 'OK, now, are you saying, prefer not to go on the trip because he’s a risk to anybody, or are you saying that to cover yourself,'" he said. "And they said, we have to tell that to cover ourself, but he’s not a risk." In another bizarre twist to a story it turns out Speaker’s father-in-law, Robert C. Cooksey, is a tuberculosis researcher who has worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Speaker is now in Denver where he stands receive the best treatment for his drug-resistant strain of the often-fatal disease. "I don’t expect those people to ever forgive me. I just hope they understand that I truly never meant them any harm."
You really gotta feel for this guy. As easy as it is to judge him from afar, it really sounds like he was being given the runaround by his doctors (can't we all relate to that?) and the authorities and when he found out he needed to be in Denver or possibly die, his judgment was clouded. His fellow passengers have every right to be angry, but keep in mind that his doctors had him going to work (trying cases), jogging, sleeping in bed with his fiance and living in the same house as his young stepdaughter -- so why would he think he was putting others at risk? He was continuing to go about things just as he had. Here's hoping the doctors in Denver can help him. (NYT)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

What pisses me off is that when the CDC docs were trying to contact him in Europe, he intentionally took a flight into Canada and snuck back into the US via New York. Sorry, no sympathy here!

Anonymous said...

I'd get back the US any friggin way I could if I had TB. I'd want the best possible care.

Anonymous said...

i agree with the previous anonymous comment. it looks like an entitled selfish lawyer who didn't want to break his wedding off in europe to me. also, WHO brings a lawyer to a doctor's appointment? and also: when someone tells you that you have drug resistant TB does it sound right that you should be travelling abroad? TB! not a cold but TB! and then why do you sneek in through Canada? NOW all of a sudden you're concerned about your health? as if Italy is a third world nation. there are more restriction on HIV patients apparently than someone with an airborne illness. and THEN he gets back into the country because a border patrol agent lets him pass through because "he looks healthy?" huh? i can't help but feel that he saw this guy as not a threat because he was some young white guy with a tan and a blonde wife. when SARS happened i saw ALL asian folk pulled to the side. he gets ZERO sympathy from me! He's trying to play like he's innocent--releasing the wedding photos, etc. He isn't. He is a lawyer and can discern through logic that an airborne illness is communicable on a plane that uses re-circulated air. duh! and as for the US having the best care--tell that to the millions who have NO medical coverage whatsoever. that is a crime!

Anonymous said...

Insurance COVERAGE is another issue. Stay focused, Mary ;)

Anonymous said...

Sorry Kenneth, any sympathy that I may have had for his "confusion" ended when he disregarded instructions not to fly from your and endangered other passengers on his return flight. It was very clear that he knew what he was doing was wrong and was trying to evade detection. The clinics in Europe are good (if you have money), so there was no reason for him not to get treated there. If he broke any EU or Canadian laws regarding flying with an infectious and deadly disease, then I would return him to those jurisdictions, after successful treatment, for prosecution.