TB Guy is such an ass. You know who I am talking about right? Mr. I Have To Go To Europe No Matter What? He is, I think, the perfect example of the thirty-something, more-money-than-sense, American ass.
The CDC tells him he should probably put off his travel plans, because, after all, he has TB. He goes anyway.
The CDC discovers he has an even worse strain of TB than at first supposed, they try to contact him again, but he’s already gone. They track him down overseas and tell him to not get on another commercial flight. He does anyway.
The CDC tracks him down yet again and tells him one more time to not get on a commercial flight and to go immediately to a clinic. He gets on a commercial flight and sneaks back into the US through Canada.
They contact him one more time, and finally he goes to a hospital.
The CDC quarantines him and moves him to another hospital where he can receive treatment, and he complains and threatens to sue for being held in enforced quarantine, because, he says, it isn’t fair to have an armed guard outside his door since he has complied with all their wishes. Excuse me? Does he know what compliance means?
He apologizes to all the people he may have exposed to this strain of TB, and he’s really, really sorry. I think it’s more like he’s really, really sorry someone may sue him.
The real kicker from all that I have read about this, aside from the breakdown in the ability of the “system” to keep a man carrying a bad strain of TB from going anywhere he wanted to, is this quote from Mr. Speaker himself:
“Before I left, I knew that it was made clear to me, that in order to fight this, I had one shot, and that was going to be in Denver,” he said. If doctors in Europe tried to treat him and it went wrong, he said, “it’s very real that I could have died there.”
So before he left on his little jaunt, he KNEW the only way he was going to get better was to be in Denver, and yet he went anyway. Then, the ultimate in stupid American attitudes, has the audacity to act as though Europe is so backwater and disconnected from the rest of the universe that had they tried to treat him, he might have DIED! Because, you know, medicines and doctors and information to treat him couldn’t possibly be brought to any place on the planet in a matter of hours … and that the medical system anywhere but in the US is so horrible they wouldn’t be able to save him, even though he was right in Italy where they actually have clinics that successfully treat drug-resistant TB. I guess those Italians just aren’t smart enough or American enough for him. Gah! Such arrogance and stupidity from someone who describes himself as well-educated, intelligent and successful. :rolleyes:
Guess what Mr. Speaker, you may die anyway. You have a multi-drug resistant strain of tuberculosis. Even with the best of health care, people do still die from that … particularly people who don’t take TB seriously enough to put off a world tour to get treatment.
If I had been told in January that I had just regular old TB, you can bet your sweet ass I would not be sitting here in May still not having started treatment. Travel plans, wedding plans, whatever other kinds of plans would just be put the hell on hold until my continued health and survival could be assured, and there is no way in hell I would put anyone else at risk for my own selfish pleasure as he did above all my own family. I’d say this guy isn’t nearly as educated or intelligent as he seems to think he is.
WHO | Frequently asked questions – XDR-TB
Tuberculosis – Wikipedia
TB Patient: “I’m Very Sorry”
Bizarre tale of TB traveler reveals border security gaps
this whole thing just infuriated me. i am so sick of selfish assholes like this guy. everyone else can just get sick and die, as long as he gets to do whatever he wants. i was telling sohei that if someone gets sick because of him, that he should be prosecuted criminally, like some places have begun to do with aids patients who don’t reveal their status and infect their partners. he’s basically a murderer and should be punished as such, if he’s passed his illness along.
I imagine if anyone who was in contact with him gets TB, there is going to be a shitstorm of grand proportions. It’s got me pretty damn pissed off too. I am so careful NOT to infect others with whatever cold/flu/nastiness I have, even to the point of not leaving the house at all when I feel badly, and here’s this guy with something REALLY bad, and he’s out jet-setting and ignoring people telling him to sit in one place.
Asshole!