CDC: 107 people on TB flights need tests

[accordn2me]

Just a thought, but what if FIL thought Andrew was a big azz, too.....what if he purposely infected him somehow?

OK, I know, I know....I've been reading too many novels.

And put his daughter at risk......naw!

 

[JBean]

Sorry you guys, I can't keep up.
Is the TB infected man's father in law a CDC doctor?!?

 

[Buzz Mills]

Sorry you guys, I can't keep up.
Is the TB infected man's father in law a CDC doctor?!?

He's a TB Researcher (MicroBiologist) at the CDC, and he gave Andrew friendly father-in-law advice on his situation. He must be a terrorist.

 

[englishleigh]

And put his daughter at risk......naw!

Right...that's what stopped that line of thought for me. But still...it IS just too weird...too much coincidence, IMO.

 

[JBean]

He's a TB Researcher (MicroBiologist) at the CDC, and he gave Andrew friendly father-in-law advice on his situation. He must be a terrorist.

Thank you Buzz. I am trying to work and follow too many stories. My bad!

 

[ljwf22]

"The father-in-law, Bob Cooksey, would not comment on whether he reported his son-in-law to federal health authorities. He said only that he gave 31-year-old Andrew Speaker "fatherly advice" when he learned the young man had contracted the disease."

Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070531/ap_on_re_us/tuberculosis_infection

 

[christine2448]

He must be a terrorist.

LMAO! That hit my funny bone, even though this is really not funny, I could just hear you saying that, and your tone, well, it hit my funny bone! (OM, I am a poet and didn't know it!) Anyhow, Buzz, you never flippin' know anymore!

 

[JBean]

"The father-in-law, Bob Cooksey, would not comment on whether he reported his son-in-law to federal health authorities. He said only that he gave 31-year-old Andrew Speaker "fatherly advice" when he learned the young man had contracted the disease."

Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070531/ap_on_re_us/tuberculosis_infection

So do we think he got the disease from the FIL? that's a pretty wild coinky dink.

 

[pedinurse]

Oh I understand that Buzz and I believe this man will die. Probably that reality is what motivated him to make such an outrageous decision.

and can you blame him?

knowing the probability that if you have this strain of TB you are likely to die, i would do anything in my power to get back to the U.S.

I have a lot to live for. So does he. A new wife and a new life, successful career. I don't blame him at all and I think that critizing him (saying it is like shooting a crowd of people with an AK47) aren't putting themselves in his shoes.

Knowing that they let him work, live a normal life prior to his departure to his U.S. and just recommended he not travel (most likely for his own sake), I would have gone on to my wedding / honeymoon.

 

[accordn2me]

Right...that's what stopped that line of thought for me. But still...it IS just too weird...too much coincidence, IMO.

Very weird! Does anyone have a clue how Andrew Speaker contracted this deadly, rare form of TB? Who else has it?

I just read a little about TB on wikipedia. It said that some animals can be carriers. I didn't know you couldn't have a gerbil in California!

 

[pedinurse]

The audacity of this azz to place literally 1,000's of people at risk.

He deserves to be hung out to dry. Typical azzhole attorney.

His name is Andrew Speaker, and he works with his father, who is also an attorney, in the Atlanta area.

Speaker Law Firm PC
4651 Roswell Road Northeast Suite D302, Atlanta, GA 30342
phone: (404) 531-9868
fax: (404) 531-9868
email: [email protected]

Buzz - that's not right. Why are you putting his personal contact information on the internet on a webboard?
You wouldn't like it you were in this guys shoes, now would you? how rude can you be.

 

[accordn2me]

and can you blame him?

knowing the probability that if you have this strain of TB you are likely to die, i would do anything in my power to get back to the U.S.

I have a lot to live for. So does he. A new wife and a new life, successful career. I don't blame him at all and I think that critizing him (saying it is like shooting a crowd of people with an AK47) aren't putting themselves in his shoes.

Knowing that they let him work, live a normal life prior to his departure to his U.S. and just recommended he not travel (most likely for his own sake), I would have gone on to my wedding / honeymoon.

Yes. I can blame him. What's the first thing you would do if someone told you that you have a disease that is communicable and that you need to go to the only hospital in the world that does this cutting edge treatment? I would do A LOT of research on the disease right away. I would try to find out how I got the disease. And I would not unnecessarily expose others by leaving my country on a transatlantic flight from an international airport! :furious:

 

[accordn2me]

Buzz - that's not right. Why are you putting his personal contact information on the internet on a webboard?
You wouldn't like it you were in this guys shoes, now would you? how rude can you be.

Fox had his picture on the news!

Andrew Speaker is to blame! Not Buzz, or anyone else.

 

[englishleigh]

Yes. I can blame him. What's the first thing you would do if someone told you that you have a disease that is communicable and that you need to go to the only hospital in the world that does this cutting edge treatment? I would do A LOT of research on the disease right away. I would try to find out how I got the disease. And I would not unnecessarily expose others by leaving my country on a transatlantic flight from an international airport! :furious:

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

 

[Buzz Mills]

and can you blame him?

knowing the probability that if you have this strain of TB you are likely to die, i would do anything in my power to get back to the U.S.

I have a lot to live for. So does he. A new wife and a new life, successful career. I don't blame him at all and I think that critizing him (saying it is like shooting a crowd of people with an AK47) aren't putting themselves in his shoes.

Knowing that they let him work, live a normal life prior to his departure to his U.S. and just recommended he not travel (most likely for his own sake), I would have gone on to my wedding / honeymoon.

This idiot placed literally thousands of people at risk--talk about being self-centered. Most newscasters are biting their tongues on thsi, but they have received lots of email, all referring to the audacity of Andrew Speaker for ignoring the medical advice, and further evading attempts to contact him, both, before he left, and while he was in Europe. There isn't any excuse, at all, for him acting the way that he did, and apologies do no good at this point in time.

 

[christine2448]

Buzz - that's not right. Why are you putting his personal contact information on the internet on a webboard?
You wouldn't like it you were in this guys shoes, now would you? how rude can you be.

This is a business, not a personal #. Attack the post not the poster, I don't believe Buzz is rude.

You are a nurse? Can you give us some professional input on this situation, the disease?

I am understand he new BEFORE he left the US that there was a chance he had TB, he must have, they new the strain 2 days before he left for honeymoon...correct? He should have never left to begin with! If I am wrong about him knowing there was a possiblity he was infected before he ever left the states, the correct me. Otherwise, I still say this guy is an azz.

 

[Buzz Mills]

Buzz - that's not right. Why are you putting his personal contact information on the internet on a webboard?
You wouldn't like it you were in this guys shoes, now would you? how rude can you be.

Apparently you are confusing placement of the word rude. I would suggest you place it on the forehead of Andrew Speaker, an idiot that knowingly exposed thousands of others to a potentially deadly disaease. He deserves all the criticism that he receives. I can't say enough bad things about his actions.

Perhaps a Billboard would be better??

I would suggest that anyone, and everyone, who had to be tested, as a result of Andrew Speaker's actions, sue Andrew Speaker for any, and all, costs.

 

[MSM]

They told him not to get on a commercial flight AFTER he was already in Italy.

He did not evade the CDC. He told them all along (since January) that he was getting married overseas and asked repeatedly if he should put off the wedding. They never said no, just that they advised against it.

If he was so dangerous (before he left the country - after is a different story) then why was he allowed to go to work and continue on his life as normal? Are the people in Atlanta less worthy than the people on those airplanes?

It is my understanding that they only diagnosed him with drug-resistant TB (although they did not know it was the MULTI drug resistant form) on May 11, the day before he left the country. So they would not have had a reason to tell him not to travel until then. TB cultures take weeks to grow. Just because he was seeing the doctors for weeks doesn't mean that they knew he had drug resistant TB for weeks. Of course their advice would change when his diagnosis changed.

The doctors had no legal authority to prevent him from flying, so they could not legally tell him not to fly, but they could advise against it--and they did. He chose to ignore that advice and put others at risk. The article I linked on the first page of this thread indicates that the doctors were so concerned with his reaction on May 11 that they went to his home to hand-deliver a letter advising him not to travel, but he was already gone. That indicates to me that the doctors suspected he was going to ignore their advice, and they wanted it in writing.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/conditions/05/31/tb.flight/index.html


Health officials said they advised him not to travel, but they had no authority to prevent him from doing so.
After making it clear that he was set on traveling despite the warnings, the man asked during a meeting with county health officials whether it would help if he wore a mask, Fulton County's Dr. Eric Benning told CNN.
Since the county was not able legally to stop him from traveling, the officials recommended he at least wear a mask, Benning said. Speaker left for Europe a few days later.

I think this guy is using lawyer-speak to claim he wasn't told he couldn't travel. I bet he was told they couldn't legally stop him, but that they advised against it.

 

[MSM]

and can you blame him?

knowing the probability that if you have this strain of TB you are likely to die, i would do anything in my power to get back to the U.S.

I have a lot to live for. So does he. A new wife and a new life, successful career. I don't blame him at all and I think that critizing him (saying it is like shooting a crowd of people with an AK47) aren't putting themselves in his shoes.

Knowing that they let him work, live a normal life prior to his departure to his U.S. and just recommended he not travel (most likely for his own sake), I would have gone on to my wedding / honeymoon.

I am a doctor. I can put myself in his shoes and sympathize with not wanting to be treated in Italy. However, I CANNOT put myself in his shoes and say I would have gotten on a long commercial flight with drug resistant TB (he was told he had a drug resistant strain, but not XDR TB, BEFORE he got on the plane in Atlanta) and exposed everyone around me. It was his own pig-headedness that landed him in Italy when he found out about the XDR TB. I understand he had his wedding planned, but he WAS told not to travel, both for his own safety and for those around him, and chose to ignore that advice. A personal injury lawyer should be well aware of the potential repercussions of that decision, legal and otherwise.

 

[Nova]

Thanks for the professional view, MSM, and welcome to WS!