http://abcnews.go.com/GMA...184&page=1


he was told not to travel, he was told to report to italian officials he was told to get his ass into quarantine..what does he do?...drives across the border so as not to get picked up.

In an exclusive interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer, tuberculosis patient Andrew Speaker said he never thought others were at risk for catching his deadly disease.

"I'm very sorry for any grief or pain that I have caused anyone," Speaker said from his isolation room in the National Jewish Hospital in Denver. "I think if people look at my life, that's not … not how I live my life."

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Speaker, a 31-year-old lawyer from Atlanta, learned he had TB in January. In May, doctors realized his strain, known as XDR-TB, was extensively drug-resistant. He then boarded a commercial flight to Paris May 12, and returned from Europe 12 days later on a flight from Prague, Czech Republic, to Canada.

Speaker said he never thought he was sick enough to infect others. He felt fine two weeks ago, walking around, jogging and trying cases as usual. He told Sawyer he had a tape recording of a meeting with health officials that he said would confirm his view that it was OK to travel in his condition.

"I hope they understand, based on what I was told didn't think I was making that gamble," he said. "I truly believe that there is a misunderstanding of how we entered into all of this. I hope they understand that at every turn it was conveyed to me that my family, my wife, my daughter, no one was at risk. And that I was not contagious. And that I never would have put my family at risk and my daughter at risk."


Speaker: CDC Let Him Go, Then Abandoned Him
Doctors say they told Speaker not to travel. Speaker said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health organizations advised him against travel but didn't stop him.

Speaker's father-in-law, Bob Cooksey, is a CDC microbiologist specializing in the spread of TB and other bacteria. He said only that he gave Speaker "fatherly advice" when he learned the young man had contracted the disease.

He knew.... perhaps thought he was in a better position here.

Would he be held liable if someone else got infected?

i can't believe the nerve of this jerk. i hope he's sued if he infected someone.

evenstar3 said:

I wonder if this is basis for a case if someone were to sue him.

Ummm...maybe the fact he was supposed to be in quarantine could have been a bit of a hint?????

Nikster said:

Was he in quarantine before he traveled?

BlackAdder7 said:

wow how amazing is that, contracting a disease that your father-in-law is an expert in! ..... - you don't think he's been playing away and his in-laws have got wind of it do you?

typical. i know an attorney who tells me he's "not much of a rules guy"

You just don't know what's out here floating in the air, think i'll stay in the house FOREVER! I work in a Mall and I see new moms with thier 2 weeks old babies in the mall shopping, new babies do not need to be around all those people!
[Edited 6/2/07 6:28am]

I had Tuberculosis as a child, twice. Very nasty.

XxAxX said:

That's exactly what I was thinking.
Cocky, irresponsible, "you can't tell me what to do" mentality that is prevalant nowadays in our society. ESPECIALLY with rich spoiled brats in the USA.

He is an educated man, no? He finds out that he has TB. So instead of postponing his wedding, he hops on an transatlantic flight.
Then; "surprise!-surprise!" he is told to stay put. He "fears for his life" and sneaks back into the US, possibly contaminating twice as many people as before.

THEN he has the fuckin' NERVE to complain about being under armed guard.



I hope that he spends the rest of his life fighting lawsuits from anyone that he infected.

TB is highly contagious. If he had any cough at all in his travels, others were exposed. Not just on the plane.
If he took a taxi, on the elevator, etc etc. Everyone in close proximity to the guy is at risk for contracting the bacteria. For those who are already immunosupressed(transplant recipients, cancer pts). it's a death sentence.....

I just got a couple of new Speakers for my car.
I was listenin' to Square Biz by Teena Marie earlier this afternoon,
& it wuz thumpin'.
Sick, bro.

PurpleJedi said:

What a jackass! TB is a highly infectious and serious disease. The fact that it is drug resistant shows that this guy is an example of why the overpopulation of the world needs to be controlled. Too many idiots who can't see beyond their own existance.

What is the update on this story?

Paradisekiss03 said:

Paris gets locked up and the whole world goes numb.

I like the way, when he's being interviewed by reporters, although not contagious, is wearing a MASK!!

If he's not at risk for transmitting the bacteria, why wear one?
[Edited 6/8/07 20:15pm]

xplnyrslf said:

So he is not contagious?

Allegedly.

xplnyrslf said:

Perhaps he was concerned about contracting something from the reporters??
(Masks are a protective device from airborne particles.)