TB drama...

[+ purplekow]

> In my gut I don't think I fully trust him.

>

Of course you can't trust him, he is a lawyer. The only lawyer you can trust is your own.

 

>On the other hand, I think it is possible that some of the

>health authorities are trying to cover their ass and are also

>being less than truthful.

 

Although I am not foolish enough to believe that the health authorities would not lie to us (look at the problems with 911 first responders which were denied for some time) this time I have not found a false note with the medical community.

>

>All said - I'd still do him although what I have in mind might

>be slightly difficult to perform if I had to wear that stupid

>looking facial mask.

 

You are right, what I prefer to do requires him to wear the mask.

[+ ArVaGuy]

Pay very close attention as to which agency he is claiming never told him not to travel. The most current AP articles now state it was the Fulton County Health Department and not the CDC. The CDC became involved at a different point in the timeline.

 

Also, according to the NY Times, he initally sought treatment in January for what he thought were broken ribs and learned then that he had TB. This guy is just trying to cast blame to avoid taking full responsibility for his actions.

[+ ArVaGuy]

Well....this story just keeps dripping out details. Here's the link to the latest for full details.

 

http://www.comcast.net/news/index.jsp?cat=GENERAL&fn=/2007/06/12/687783.html&cvqh=itn_TB

 

 

ATLANTA - "Health officials trying to stop a globetrotting honeymooner with a dangerous form of tuberculosis got little assistance from his lawyer father and his future father-in-law, a TB expert who not only balked at stopping the Greek wedding but went to the ceremony himself, according to e-mails obtained by The Associated Press.

 

Some of the 181 pages of e-mails, obtained through a public records request, suggest that the 31-year-old Andrew Speaker's father was clipped and combative in phone conversations with health officials.

 

E-mails from Fulton County officials portray his father-in-law, CDC microbiologist Robert Cooksey, as initially unhelpful, at least before May 22, when tests showed that Speaker had a more dangerous form of TB than previously understood.

 

"This is terrible news. I hope the father-in-law will be more forthcoming now," reads a May 22 e-mail written by Beverly DeVoe-Payton, director of the Georgia Division of Public Health's tuberculosis program, to other state health officials regarding the new test results.

 

But CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said Tuesday that Cooksey had already begun to cooperate and provided the agency with Speaker's phone number in Europe.

 

Speaker, an Atlanta lawyer, sparked an international scare when health officials tried to find _ and isolate _ him because he was infected with an exceptionally dangerous form of TB that is highly resistant to drugs.

 

He knew he had TB and that it was resistant to some drugs when he left Atlanta, but he did not find out until he was in Europe that it was the highly dangerous form.

 

In his conversations with health officials, Speaker "placed a lot of emphasis on contagiousness. He asked questions in a way so he could hear what he needed to hear to justify his leaving," Skinner said...." (rest of details in linked article)