9 people file lawsuit against TB flyer – Yahoo! News
Andrew Speaker is being sued by nine people on the plane he returned to the US on, because he had TB and may have infected them.
The article is interesting, but not the whole story. Initial test showed that Speaker had XDR TB, an extremely drug resistant form of TB. As such he was a serious health risk to others, and his own treatment would prove difficult. People with XDR have about a 50/50 chance of survival, and even if they survive the disease, there’s abother 50/50 chance they will remain carriers of the disease for years.
In effect the US government told Andrew Speaker, a native of Atlanta to “stay in Europe and die” because of the disease. They wouldn’t risk flying him home.
And yet, it was all a mistake. Speaker doesn’t have XDR TB, only MDR TB, a multi drug resistant, but still treatable form of TB.
I’m not condoning his actions. If Speaker really had XDR, then he put dozens of people at risk on the flight. But the US actions aren’t exactly squeaky clean here either.
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