Thursday, May 31, 2007

More On 'Typhoid Andrew'

Here's the latest on the douchebag who may have exposed dozens of people around the world to a deadly strain of XDR TB...

The patient was identified as Andrew Speaker, a 31-year-old personal injury lawyer (FIGURES...) who returned last week from his wedding and honeymoon trip through Italy, the Greek isles and other spots in Europe. His new father-in-law, Robert C. Cooksey, is a CDC microbiologist whose specialty is TB and other bacteria (COINCIDENCE???).

Cooksey would not comment on whether he reported his son-in-law to federal health authorities. Nor did the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explain how the case came to their attention. However, Cooksey said that neither he nor his CDC laboratory was the source of his son-in-law's TB.

Speaker is now under quarantine at a hospital in Denver. He is the first infected person to be quarantined by the U.S. government since 1963.

The disclosure that the patient is a lawyer - and specifically a personal injury lawyer - outraged many people on the Internet and elsewhere. Some travelers who flew on the same planes with Speaker angrily accused him of selfishly putting hundreds of people's lives in danger.

"It's still very scary," 21-year-old Laney Wiggins, one of more than two dozen University of South Carolina-Aiken students who are getting skin tests for TB. "That is an outrageous number of people that he was very reckless with their health. It's not fair. It's selfish."

Speaker said in a newspaper interview that he knew he had TB when he flew from Atlanta to Europe in mid-May for his wedding and honeymoon, but that he did not find out until he was already in Rome that it was an extensively drug-resistant strain considered especially dangerous (OH... WELL... THAT'S DIFFERENT...).

Despite warnings from federal health officials not to board another long flight, he flew home for treatment, fearing he wouldn't survive if he didn't reach the U.S., he said. He said he tried to sneak home by way of Canada instead of flying directly into the U.S.

...and more on daddy-in-law...

Speaker's father-in-law has worked at the CDC for 32 years and is in the Division of Tuberculosis Elimination, where he works with TB and other organisms. He has co-authored papers on diabetes, TB and other infectious diseases.

"As part of my job, I am regularly tested for TB. I do not have TB, nor have I ever had TB," he said in a statement. "My son-in-law's TB did not originate from myself or the CDC's labs, which operate under the highest levels of biosecurity."

... I dunno... it seems awfully coincidental...

Health officials in North America and Europe are now trying to track down about 80 passengers who sat near him on his two trans-Atlantic flights, and they want passenger lists from four shorter flights he took while in Europe.

However, other passengers are not considered at high risk of infection because tests indicated the amount of TB bacteria in Speaker was low, said Dr. Martin Cetron, director of the CDC's division of global migration and quarantine.

Health law experts said Speaker could be sued if others contract TB.

"There are a number of cases that say a person who negligently transmits an infectious disease could be held liable," said Lawrence Gostin, a public health law expert at Georgetown University. "So long as he knew it was infectious, and knew about the appropriate behavior but failed to comply, he could be held liable."

It's just crazy what a huge risk this guy took with other people's lives. It shows a total disregard for other's lives and a pure selfishness that we Americans, unfortunately, seem to excel at.

Read the entire SFExaminer article here

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You missed the big one. How in the world did this guy get a phone call from the CDC in Rome, if he was not suppose to fly? Ping. His father-in-law is directly involved... all bets point that way. How else would they reach him unless he has an international phone for usage. I surmise his dear father-in-law used his power to treat this patient DIFFERENTLY than any other poor kid from Africa.

Anonymous said...

Well, it is good to know that Homeland Security can actually stop someone listed as a potential threat. Way to go team!! You guys are awesome!! It is more proof that Homeland Security is meant to imprison only those who are not well connected and part of the globalist network.

I would say Typhoid Andrew should be charged with hundreds of counts of attempted assault and assault with bodily fluids (TB is spread through tiny fluid droplets when someone coughs), but that might open a pandora's box.

In any case, he knew he was infected. He knew he could spread it. He acted like it was a big joke. Supposedly, he was afraid to seek treatment in a foreign country. Well, he knew he was infected before he left the States. Why did he go on a plane with any TB at all? What a stupid and selfish SOB. Throw the book at him .

That is a sign of very poor decision making skills. Maybe he could run for American President?

Oh yeah, sure that strain had nothing to do with the US bio-warfare program. What kind of idiots do they think we are? God help us, we are heading for very troubling times!!!

Unknown said...

weird that customs almost made me fill out another form to enter US from Canada because they could not read my handwriting because an ''e'' looked like an ''o''. Give me a break. Customs and or border guard should be fired, patient in question should have to reimburse US govt for expenses incurred with this fiasco.