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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| More on that idiot with highly drug resistant TB |
| 2007-05-31 |
| A tuberculosis patient under the first federal quarantine since 1963 was taken Thursday to National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver, which specializes in respiratory disorders, officials said. He walked in under his own power after flying from Atlanta with his wife and federal marshals, hospital spokesman William Allstetter said. CBS News has learned the man with the extreme form of tuberculosis is Andrew Harley Speaker, a 31-year-old lawyer from Atlanta. A medical official in Atlanta also confirmed the name on condition of anonymity. The man has a rare and dangerous form of tuberculosis that has proved resistant to drugs. He looked healthy and tan, and "he said he still felt fine," Allstetter said. Doctors plan to begin treating the man immediately with two antibiotics, one oral and one intravenous. He also will undergo a basic physical exam, a test to evaluate how infectious he is and a CT scan and lung X-ray, Allstetter said. Doctors hope to also determine where he contracted the disease. He will be kept in a special unit with two rooms and a ventilation system, Allstetter said. "He may not leave that room much for several weeks," Allstetter said. According to a biography posted on a Web site connected with Speaker's law firm, he attended the U.S. Naval Academy, graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in finance, and then attended University of Georgia's law school. In a phone interview with the Atlanta Constitution-Journal from an Atlanta hospital earlier this week, he explained that he knew he had TB when he flew from Atlanta to Europe in mid-May for his wedding and honeymoon, but that he didn't find out until he was already there that it was an extensively drug-resistant strain considered especially dangerous. 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. Health officials in North America and Europe are trying to track down about 80 passengers who sat near him on the two trans-Atlantic flights, and they want passenger lists from four shorter flights he took while in Europe. Patients on the shorter flights are not expected to be as much at risk, health officials said. Speaker had flown to Paris on May 12 aboard Air France Flight 385, also listed as Delta Air Lines codeshare Flight 8517, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Speaker and his bride also took four shorter flights while in Europe — Paris to Athens on May 14; Athens to Thira Island May 16; Mykonos Island to Athens May 21; and Athens to Rome May 21 — but CDC officials said there was less risk of infection during the shorter hops compared to the trans-Atlantic flights, which each lasted eight hours or more. It was while they were in Rome that he learned further U.S. tests had determined his TB was the rare, extensively drug-resistant form, far more dangerous than he knew. Officials told Speaker to turn himself over to Italian health officials and not to fly on any commercial airlines. Instead, on May 24, he flew from Rome to Prague on Czech Air Flight 0727, then flew to Montreal aboard Czech Air Flight 0104 and drove into the U.S., according to CDC officials. Speaker told the Journal-Constitution that he wasn't coughing and that doctors initially did not order him not to fly and only suggested he put off his long-planned wedding. "We headed off to Greece thinking everything's fine," he told the newspaper. Alison Young, the Journal-Constitution reporter who interviewed Speaker by telephone, told CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella the man said health officials never required him to wear masks or isolate himself. Dr. Charles Daley, head of the infectious disease division at National Jewish Hospital, said the hospital has treated two other patients with what appears to be the same strain of tuberculosis since 2000, although that strain had not been identified and named at the time. He said the patients had improved enough to be released. "With drug-resistant tuberculosis, it's quite a challenge to treat this," Daley told CNN on Thursday. "The cure rate that's been reported in other places is very low. It's about 30 percent for XDR-TB." "This is a different patient, though. We're told that this is very early in the course, and most of the time when we get patients that it's very extensive and very far advanced. So I think we're more optimistic," he said. "We're aiming for cure. We know it's an uphill battle, but we hope to get there." |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #30 Barbara, have I told you lately how much I lubs ya? You're still the one! |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-05-31 23:57 |
| #29 Lessee - this genius promises his new wife they will be together until death do them part. "And, by the way, honey, that death and parting thing may come sooner rather than later - since I've just infected YOU with my deadly drug-resistant TB." Ain't |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2007-05-31 23:44 |
| #28 It would be wise to put that border agent into guarded quarantine until his XDR-TB tests come back... after enough time has passed that if he's actually been infected the bacteria load becomes high enough that the test is accurate. Then fire him, and provide no references. He's not intelligent enough for the job, if he can't tell the difference between his training and that of an MD/PhD epidemiologist. Ass. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-05-31 22:23 |
| #27 The story just keeps getting worse. This just out on AP/Yahoo: Border worker disregarded TB warning [The patient] was allowed back into the U.S. by a border inspector who disregarded a computer warning to stop him and don protective gear, officials said Thursday. Blown out of proportion? Only another lawyer would say something like that. Whoops, dad IS ALSO a lawyer. A former neighbor said, "He's a great guy. Gregarious," A little too gregarious, I'd say. Of course, if he'd been the hermit type things would have never gotten this far. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2007-05-31 21:12 |
| #26 they are considering removing the part of his lung where the infection is collecting. I hope they carefully considered the alternative of leaving it in to find out how the disease progresses. Perhaps they can also assure that he and dad-in-law get to spend lots of quality time together. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2007-05-31 21:08 |
| #25 This guy reminds me of one of a bunch of lawyer jokes I received in an e-mail last week: ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse? WITNESS: No. ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure? WITNESS: No. ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing? WITNESS: No. ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy? WITNESS: No. ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor? WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar. ATTORNEY: But could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless? WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law. |
| Posted by: GK 2007-05-31 21:03 |
| #24 Integrity and honor used to actually mean something and I thought existed in high numbers of folks. Nowadays it seems that a handshake means squat that you need everything written down witnessed, notarized registered hell all sorts of things. As with this guy possibly infecting loads of people. To think he wouldn't do the right thing here as a show of the downward spiral our society has started going in. That we actually need rules about the obvious here. If Johnny is sick he used to stay home from school, nowadays he goes to school only to infect all the other kids because mom has to go to work and doesn't have daycare for her sick Johnny. That is 'okay' because many sympathize with the parent's situation. I don't know what the answer is, I would like to see us get back to a handshake actually meaning something. Maybe we need to look at what we've allowed to change in our society as a whole as having all to do with this. A strong family unit that teaches what the right thing to do is very important, an example, by returning that candy bar that the kid took to teach him the right way and why, I feel is essential and we've really gotten away from that. This obviously was a well educated person, if this goes on with him and his family, who knows what will happen with the less fortunate. I'm usually a very postive thinking person. When I'm feeling crummy, I tend to get negative and don't like being around myself. So I'm sorry, I know I've jumped around from thought to thought here. |
| Posted by: Jan 2007-05-31 19:51 |
| #23 Other news about this guy. First was that he was put on the US No Fly list as soon as he was diagnosed. He evaded the US No Fly list by flying to Montreal first, then entered the US from there. Somebody is going to get their ass kicked over that one. Second, though he isn't showing symptoms yet, FOX News just reported that they are considering removing the part of his lung where the infection is collecting. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-05-31 19:32 |
| #22 This PI lawyer has opened himself up to a truly vast amount of personal-injury lawsuits, from apprehensive victims exposed to him to the airlines he rode on. None need to die or even be infected to file a suit against him for pain & suffering. I wonder what lawyers would be willing to take these cases on contingency? Standards of evidence in such cases are much slacker than in criminal cases, and the cash awards sympathetic juries could hand out might be astronomical. IANAL! Maybe he could change his identity & live underground for a few decades. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2007-05-31 19:28 |
| #21 ATTN: ALL Please see new thread: "XDR-TB is Lethal and Fast" |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-05-31 19:12 |
| #20 First of all, thanks to the mod who moved this to the appropriate page. I try not to be stupid, and sometimes I actually succeed. Not this time, sadly, but y'all got my back anyway. :-) This reminds me of a girlfriend, also an American expatriate, back when we lived in Germany. She had four young children, and the family had tickets to go back to the States for Christmas. Then in mid-December the kids caught the chicken pox. The next week her husband was told he was being transferred back to the States -- effective Monday -- and his wife could handle the details of the move so as to follow at the beginning of January. She was so angered by the whole situation that she bundled the kids onto the airplane as originally planned -- and if any of the passengers were infected, too bad. Me? I'd be seriously annoyed if it turned out that not only had my brand new husband infected possibly dozens of innocent bystanders with a possibly incurable and deadly disease, but that he'd done the same to me and our wedding guests, when the right thing to do would have been to postpone the wedding. But then, I have a very high standard for the intelligent and thoughtful behaviour of my husbands. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-05-31 18:52 |
| #19 I cut him NO slack - he endangered others selfishly, typical for a PI atty. His Father-In-Law says he gave him advise. He should be prosecuted if he knew the status yet didn't turn him in. He deliberately exposed others in an attempt to circumvent rules in place to save others. I hope this POS is sued for every penny he has or earns in the future. I'm pissed, if you can't tell..... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-05-31 18:15 |
| #18 JohnQC, yes, tuberculosis is spread by bacteria, and different strains are a result of, and can be distinguished by, DNA polymorphisms. I read that they did indeed do a comparison of douchebag's strain with those the father-in-law works with. No match. Weird. |
| Posted by: exJAG 2007-05-31 17:54 |
| #17 Jan echoes my thoughts precisely. Plus, the father-in-law's occupation strikes me as an astonishing coincidence. WTF? I'm also blown away that this asshole won't be prosecuted. If some jihadi wanted to set off a spectacular BW attack, this is an excellent way to do it. We also throw HIV+ people in prison when they knowingly expose others, regardless of intent. Whether they're selfish idiots or malicious psychopaths, the results are the same. How is this any different? |
| Posted by: exJAG 2007-05-31 17:50 |
| #16 Does the TB organism have unique DNA that would allow an infection to be traced to a source? |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2007-05-31 17:50 |
| #15 Anonymoose, I agree with all that you've said. I do however still maintain that being an educated man you don't place all those people at risk by only thinking of yourself. I've recently learned that some countries require you to have some sort of health documentation. I only know this as I will be travelling this summer so have been preparing by getting the proper info so I'm prepared for my travel. While looking to see if Ireland had any health documentation necessary, I remember seeing that Germany did have. link scroll down to where it says; "Review your itinerary What countries will you visit, and in what order? Some countries require proof of vaccination" There are probably better sites, I only grabbed this one online quickly to make my point. Makes me want to think seriously about wearing a mask when I fly. |
| Posted by: Jan 2007-05-31 17:45 |
| #14 I know you're about to tour the world, son but first, take a huff of this beaker. OH, ooff, that stuff is Too Bad. It's Total Bile. Why it's Toxic Beans, pop. Grushy |
| Posted by: Grusosh Borgia9229 2007-05-31 17:02 |
| #13 We need to wait for the whole timeline here. I'm thinkin ol' father-in-law has been burning the candle at both ends. More to come, please. |
| Posted by: Grusosh Borgia9229 2007-05-31 16:55 |
| #12 I wouldn't be too quick to jump on this guy. TB is not a very obvious disease in its early stages, and its typical treatment is also strange. To start with, you are given one test, to see if you have TB exposure. If it comes back positive, then you are told you will need to take a course of treatment for about six months, to prevent you from developing the disease. But after the first test comes back positive, then you are given a *second* test, to see if the exposure has developed into the disease, which is no sure thing. If *it* is positive, then you get a *different* series of drugs that you have to take for at least a year and a half. Now there is a *third* test they would have to perform, to determine if you have ordinary TB, the resistant form, or the extra resistant form. It is still rare in North America, and most of the TB is of the ordinary variety. In any event, he was probably notified that he had exposure to the disease *and* had developed TB, so they had issued him the second series of drugs to take. Then they suggested that it might not be a good idea to travel, before they knew or had told him he *might* have the resistant or extra resistant strain. He was already traveling when they discovered that he had the extra resistant strain. And *that* is when the flares went up and alarm bells went off. So it's all in the timetable. Who knows why he got his first test, anyway, as it is normally given to school teachers, firemen, and certain other groups. So, why didn't they freak out when he was diagnosed with TB? "Over one-third of the world's population now has the TB bacterium in their bodies and new infections are occurring at a rate of one per second. Not everyone who is infected develops the disease and asymptomatic latent TB infection is most common. However, one in ten latent infections will progress to active TB disease which, if left untreated, kills more than half of its victims." In the US, annually, are about 14,000 cases of TB, of which only 150 or so are drug resistant. Finally, we have widespread AIDS to thank for the new strains of TB. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-05-31 16:54 |
| #11 To learn that he was an educated man, that endangered everyone on board all of the many flights that he took while knowingly having TB. Horrors. If this is any showing of his intellect, I don't want him being my lawyer. To come back to America because he wanted the best care. Yes thinking only of himself, not caring how many he puts at risk to save his own skin. Bastard. If any of the folks on any of those flights are diagnosed with this TB he should pick up their bills. |
| Posted by: Jan 2007-05-31 16:46 |
| #10 What about the "hoof and mouth solution"? |
| Posted by: mojo 2007-05-31 16:37 |
| #9 ATLANTA (AP) - The honeymooner quarantined with a dangerous strain of tuberculosis was identified Thursday as a 31-year-old personal injury lawyer whose new father-in-law is a CDC microbiologist specializing in the spread of TB. Did the Father-in-Law bring home something nasty from the office? |
| Posted by: remoteman 2007-05-31 16:35 |
| #8 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. I hope it was something like, "Ummmmm, Bob? Stay the fuck away from me with that shit, will ya?" |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-05-31 15:54 |
| #7 I'm thinking manslaughter charges if anyone from those flights catches it and dies. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2007-05-31 15:39 |
| #6 Zenster - Lock him up as soon as the family connection gets explained. Something just is NOT right here. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2007-05-31 15:38 |
| #5 As a laywer he should be required to defend himself. maybe nobody else will touch him. |
| Posted by: USN. Ret. 2007-05-31 15:35 |
| #4 Bonehead. Typical for most lawyers though. Only thinking about themselves and screw everyone else around them. (The rantburg lawyers are exempt from the above statement) ;) |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-05-31 15:34 |
| #3 This rectal cavity needs to be confined as a public menace. He has repeatedly ignored demands to consider the danger he poses to others and has gone on to expose hundreds of people to this dangerous strain. Lock his consumptive ass up. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-05-31 15:30 |
| #2 and then there is this -- ATLANTA (AP) - The honeymooner quarantined with a dangerous strain of tuberculosis was identified Thursday as a 31-year-old personal injury lawyer whose new father-in-law is a CDC microbiologist specializing in the spread of TB. 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. The CDC had no immediate comment. |
| Posted by: Sherry 2007-05-31 15:27 |
| #1 Sorry -- this was meant to be Non-WOT. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-05-31 14:41 |