Tuberculosis Case (TB)

Punzy, you bring up a great point about the CDC's failure to get this guy back to the US, for medical help. Our gov't had 4000 military guys looking for three soldiers who were missing, yet they won't spend a little money for fuel to get this guy a flight to Denver? That just doesn't make sense. If for no other reason, the costs should be for research to study this guy and discover how he contracted the disease. The US has private jets leased which are sitting unused. Our Gov't has too many levels of red tape. Talk about abandoning your own citizens.... :bang: I think an illegal alien in this country would get better treatment.

This sounds like it could've been a very good idea considering they knew how the media/public would react. I do believe they've been scrambling to cover up.

Well, I think public health officials should take human behavior into account when they are assessing risk. Let's say there were 100 people in Andrew Speaker's position when he got that phone call in Rome. They don't believe they are contagious, they are in a country with medical care that doesn't compare to that in the U.S., and realize timely treatment is the best hope for survival. My guess is 80 people would do what they were told, 20 would try to make it home. Even if he'd been stopped at the border, he'd have still been a hundred times better off than sitting in some Italian quarantine. In the end, the CDC tried to save a dime and spent a dollar all while giving their agency (as well as DHS) a black eye.

Yeah, they should have said - you have this disease, we want you to start treatment at an Italian hospital while we make arrangements to fly you back to the US.

Wait a minute. Doesn't Italy have socialized medicine? :idontno: Wouldn't it be superior to the free market medicine found in the US? :idontno:

When I lived in Rome, there was a hospital that we (and american embassy staff etc.) used for minor stuff because it had english speaking doctors, but they recommended for anything major you go back to the US for treatment, but I think that was more because of insurance issues.

Wait a minute. Doesn't Italy have socialized medicine? :idontno: Wouldn't it be superior to the free market medicine found in the US? :idontno:

We have three healthcare systems in America. If you divided the population into three tiers based on socio-economic levels (and to some extent the states they live in - in Kansas, Missouri, and California only the top 2-3% have first tier care).

If you fall into the first tier -- you have ample personal reserves, good insurance coverage with out of network benefits or a healthcare spending account and a hospital/surgical indemnity policy, and possibly are a member of a boutique medicine clinic -- you have the best healthcare in the world and it is two to three times better than what you'd get anywhere else in the world.

The second tier (from about the 20th to 80th percentiles) have access to healthcare through insurance coverage that has limited out of network benefits and a provision that it's reimbursements are tied to the government's fixed prices for Medicare and you are responsible for any difference in costs if you go out of network for care. People in this group basically already have social medicine, it is just administered by private companies like Blue Cross, United Healthcare, Humana, etc. These people get adequate care, but the insurance companies make it so difficult and expensive for doctors to deviate one bit from the basic standard of care that it is the rare patient that gets the best care available. The patients in this group get care comparable to what is available in Canada and Great Britain, etc.

The third tier is uninsured or undersinsured with so little in the way of personal reserves that they may actually be worse off than people who qualify for Medicaid. These people often can't afford to see private doctors and end up in public indigent clinics or emergency rooms. After seeing these doctors, they often can't afford the medicines prescribed for them. The people in this bottom group have some of the worst healthcare in the developed world.

The reason this is all so disgusting is that we spend so much for healthcare that everyone of us should have top tier care. The third party payors and hospital-pharmaceutical complex combined with a government that doesn't understand the industry they are regulating cause so much waste and misallocation of resources as to make it laughable. That's why I don't support any of the single payor models for universal healthcare.

With all that said, something tells me Mr. Speaker would have access to the first tier sort of care, and was much better off coming back to the U.S. There is another guy in this country with XDR TB who is more of a second tier guy and he has been locked in a negative pressure room in this country for almost six months. He is not being flown to Denver. And other than the occassional profile on Lou Dobbs' show, no one seems to notice.

Thanks for the explanation! I'd love to think I'm in the top tier given my insane premiums, but have a sneaking suspicion it's the second tier........:cry:

What tier am I in;I have spent many an evening in the 'penalty box' (loving nickname given to the claustraphobic suspected TB isolation room in good old Charity Hospital's ER {May she rest in peace:cry: }) and many hours in direct contact with TB patients! :yikes:

Actually, I am not worried, it is a fairly difficult disease to contract for otherwise healthy people who do not routinely share crowded spaces with the chronically ill. As is par for the course, the media is making this story out to be as dramatic and frightening as possible...I saw Sanjay Gupta having to bite his tongue yesterday on CNN and could tell he wanted to tell everyone to chill out, but he really beat around the bush.

Like most others, I felt a sadistic nerve within me tickled when I heard this guy was a slip and fall attorney and he was going to have the bejeezum sued out of him. But I am no lawyer, and he is no doctor, and if he was told he was smear negative and not in risk of spreading the disease, I am not sure he is liable for anything.

Here is a nice, readable website on TB to help clear up some of the confusion. http://images.google.com/imgres?img...acid+fast+smear&gbv=2&svnum=10&hl=en&safe=off

What tier am I in;I have spent many an evening in the 'penalty box' (loving nickname given to the claustraphobic suspected TB isolation room in good old Charity Hospital's ER {May she rest in peace:cry: }) and many hours in direct contact with TB patients! :yikes:

Actually, I am not worried, it is a fairly difficult disease to contract for otherwise healthy people who do not routinely share crowded spaces with the chronically ill. As is par for the course, the media is making this story out to be as dramatic and frightening as possible...I saw Sanjay Gupta having to bite his tongue yesterday on CNN and could tell he wanted to tell everyone to chill out, but he really beat around the bush.

Like most others, I felt a sadistic nerve within me tickled when I heard this guy was a slip and fall attorney and he was going to have the bejeezum sued out of him. But I am no lawyer, and he is no doctor, and if he was told he was smear negative and not in risk of spreading the disease, I am not sure he is liable for anything.

Well, for four more weeks you staff the bottom tier, dear. :clap:

And you need to get a skin test tomorrow...not since Katrina is not acceptable.

Well, for four more weeks you staff the bottom tier, dear. :clap:

And you need to get a skin test tomorrow...not since Katrina is not acceptable.

Did you pick up that robitussin I requested, by the way:idontno:

Learned alot from this thread. I have never had my kids tested for tb, curious at what age you guys started this? I will request it at physicals from now on.

I heard or read on this case that Speaker was having an xray of his ribs when they saw a lung infection accidentally. Also, interestingly heard on our local news that the greek authorities are saying that they (the couple) did not have proper paperwork for marriage and may not be legally married.

We had a case in one of our hospitals where a worker exposed 4 floors of people, visitors etc. to TB. DH was a visitor to that floor while visiting his sister, stressful time, but all negative.

Yesterday, I posted that I had heard that contrary to most news articles on Speaker, he did not graduate from the US Naval Academy. What I had originally heard was a non-confirmed story from a Naval Academy graduate from the class of '97, who said that Speaker left the Naval Academy due to disciplinary problems. Here is an article from this afternoon, reporting that Speaker did not graduate from the Academy, and spent only two years there.

From NavyTimes
By Mark D. Faram - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jun 1, 2007 13:45:06 EDT

Andrew Speaker, 31, entered the academy in 1993 with the class of 1997, but he left before the 1995 fall semester, said academy spokeswoman Judy Campbell. She would not give a reason for his early departure.

Learned alot from this thread. I have never had my kids tested for tb, curious at what age you guys started this? I will request it at physicals from now on.

I heard or read on this case that Speaker was having an xray of his ribs when they saw a lung infection accidentally. Also, interestingly heard on our local news that the greek authorities are saying that they (the couple) did not have proper paperwork for marriage and may not be legally married.

We had a case in one of our hospitals where a worker exposed 4 floors of people, visitors etc. to TB. DH was a visitor to that floor while visiting his sister, stressful time, but all negative.

The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests a PPD be placed at 1 year of age and annually if the child has the right risk factors. For the vast majority of children in the United States, a PPD at the one year check up and at some point in later childhood and adolesence should suffice.

The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests a PPD be placed at 1 year of age and annually if the child has the right risk factors. For the vast majority of children in the United States, a PPD at the one year check up and at some point in later childhood and adolesence should suffice.

Ok, I have to ask, what the heck is a PPD? is it the test for TB? Thanks for the age information...

How about this post from the Speakers' lawfirm's blog. Be sure to note the last sentence and think about how his is pointing fingers, but then does something foolish at the same time:

Unfortunate Bus Accident Claims a Child's Life

A small child was run over by a school bus in Columbia County yesterday. The whole nightmare unfolded in front of ten other school children. The accident occured on a narrow dirt road that was supposed to be restricted to traffic, the school bus should never have been on it in the first place. It seems it was just more convenient to use the road than to take the extra time to drive safely.Labels: car and automobile accident attorney

posted by Andrew Speaker # 10:45 PM

Here is another quote by Andrew Speaker on his blog:
"Hopefully our politicians will realize that their job is to protect people,..."

Isn't that what they were trying to do, when the CDC ordered Speaker to turn himself in in Rome and not under no circumstances fly on a commercial airline?

Read that and linked the blog. Yes he is sure pointing fingers! I can't imagine the number of lawsuits he is going to have. By the way, the top of that blog shows April 10, as the date.

I wonder if he has a laptop in his isolation room? :idontno:

Ok, I have to ask, what the heck is a PPD? is it the test for TB? Thanks for the age information...

yes

"...People in this group basically already have social medicine, it is just administered by private companies like Blue Cross, United Healthcare, Humana, etc. These people get adequate care, but the insurance companies make it so difficult and expensive for doctors to deviate one bit from the basic standard of care that it is the rare patient that gets the best care available. The patients in this group get care comparable to what is available in Canada and Great Britain, etc.

The third tier is uninsured or undersinsured with so little in the way of personal reserves that they may actually be worse off than people who qualify for Medicaid. These people often can't afford to see private doctors and end up in public indigent clinics or emergency rooms. After seeing these doctors, they often can't afford the medicines prescribed for them. The people in this bottom group have some of the worst healthcare in the developed world.

The reason this is all so disgusting is that we spend so much for healthcare that everyone of us should have top tier care. The third party payors and hospital-pharmaceutical complex combined with a government that doesn't understand the industry they are regulating cause so much waste and misallocation of resources as to make it laughable. That's why I don't support any of the single payor models for universal healthcare.

With all that said, something tells me Mr. Speaker would have access to the first tier sort of care, and was much better off coming back to the U.S. There is another guy in this country with XDR TB who is more of a second tier guy and he has been locked in a negative pressure room in this country for almost six months. He is not being flown to Denver. And other than the occassional profile on Lou Dobbs' show, no one seems to notice." originally posted by Punzy:clap: :clap: :clap:
grayt thoughts gull :cool: Thanks for sharing this info. So many poor folks and elderly can't afford thier medicine. This guy has the resources. What about all the folks that don't. Like you ponted out we haven't even heard abut this other guy whose been in quarantine for the last 6 months. Seems like Speaker and the CDC coulda got it together better. Clear communication is key. Why didn't he at least use a TB mask? The CDC shoulda highly recommended that don't ya think? A lot of people wear masks for various reasons. Was it vanity? Too embarassing to wear a mask...:doh: