A U.S. tuberculosis patient who ignored warnings not to board a transatlantic flight with a potentially deadly strain of the disease is being sued by seven Canadians and two Czechs who flew with him. Andrew Speaker sparked an international health scare two months ago when he flew to Montreal via Prague against doctors' orders.
The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) had said he was infected with a potentially deadly strain of tuberculosis generally irresponsive to drug treatment and asked him to turn himself into Italian authorities. But he refused, choosing to return home to the U.S. from his Greek wedding and Italian honeymoon through Canada to avoid detection.
Nassim Tabri, who sat one row behind Speaker on the flight from Prague to Montreal, blasted Speaker's "reckless and selfish behavior." "It was particularly stressful," he told public broadcaster CBC. "I was helpless as well, because in my head at that moment I was just thinking my future goals are gone." "I want justice, I want what's fair. Why should Mr. Speaker feel that his life is worth more (than) my life and the lives of the other innocent passengers on the plane?" said Tabri. He will find out later this month if he has the disease.
Montreal lawyer Anlac Nguyen said on behalf of the complainants that nine separate civil lawsuits would be filed against Speaker, and more suits could be filed in the coming few weeks. The complainants have been unable to work, and live with fear, stigma and isolation, he told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., lamenting, "all the pain, suffering that they had to go through, all the anxiety."
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Thursday, July 12, 2007
TB Man: You Knew This Was Coming
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2 comments:
Yes, I thought the lawsuits would come a flyin' on this one. I don't quite know what to say though. If I had had to sit next to this cretin, I would probably feel the same way. I'm not a fan of needless litigation, or lawsuit as my 401K, but man, TB? Untreatable TB? *shiver*
I'm torn on this. On the one hand the guy is clearly a very self centered example of what could apply to a very dangerous extreme of that description.
But what bothers me is the idea that this law suit is one predicated on in most cases will be only a theoretical potential of something that turned out not to exist (due to a very unlikely medical reality of turning up exposed to TB by sitting in close proximity to a carrier). I have a real issue with what that comes down to; a level of fear one HAD over something that didn't occur.
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