**BREAKING** "Contagious Man" has a name.

[El Supremo]

DENVER - The 31-year-old man with a rare and exceptionally dangerous form of tuberculosis has been transferred to National Jewish Medical and Research Center.

NBC News has learned the patient is Naval Academy graduate Andrew Speaker. His law firm's Web site says he concentrates his practice in personal injury litigation and family law....

http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=71021


Now how many days is this going to be a headline instead of, well say Iraq, Aids, gas prices...?

[sakabatou]

1. It's already in my town's daily newspaper

[npincus]

2. LOL- what irony! His firm practices "personal injury litigation"?

SO, the passengers he exposed can also be his clients!

[El Supremo]

3. He's chasing his own ambulance.

[npincus]

6. LOL...

:rofl: The comics are going to have a field day on this.

[blondeatlast]

30. Marking the time and date. I read it here first!

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

[kestrel91316]

36. Now we know why he finally decided to cooperate, after running around

half of Europe! He actually took a look at the consequences to others of his actions.

[coffeenap]

4. Naval Academy grad--did he serve overseas? Combat?

Is this the source? When will we know?

[IChing]

14. Naval Intelligence-and Fort Detrick

Fort Detrick biological warfare laboratory - officially known as the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases

http://www.counterpunch.org/madsenanthrax.html

I AM JUST KIDDING AND THROWING UTTER CRAP IN THE AIR
THIS IS JUST THINKING THE UNTHINKABLE.

I would like to know his history a bit more too.

[BurtWorm]

5. He's gonna need that law firm.

[Parche]

7. Name

I heard his name was Ty Burkulosis :rofl: :rofl:

[Ilsa]

8. That's what Bush said his name is. nt

[Renew Deal]

13. He's Lithuanian?

:silly:

[musette_sf]

45. ROFL

:rofl:

[no_hypocrisy]

9. From whom did he put up the TB virus? Shouldn't the CBC be looking for the

prior link in the chain?

[kestrel91316]

37. Uh, TB is NOT A VIRUS!!!! ROFLMAO

TB is a bacterium. Google is your friend.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuberculosis

It's an important distinction, given that the case involves a multiply-drug-resistant form of the bacterium. There are several ANTIBIOTICS for fighting TB (antibiotics have NO EFFECT whatsoever on viruses) but this bug is resistant to all or most of them. It's what makes it such a public health threat. Essentially untreatable, except surgically, and even then that may just be a stalling tactic.

[no_hypocrisy]

38. Okay, thanks for the clarification. I was thinking of the vehicle by which it was

transmitted. I think of bacteria as a labile entity. Not anymore.

[durrrty libby]

10. What happened to patient confidentiality?

HE may be the aggrieved party.

This will be interesting

[KurtNYC]

29. NBC getting sued by him in 5, 4, 3, .... n/t

[Renew Deal]

11. He should be executed!

:crazy:

[alarimer]

32. No, we need modern-day leper colonies

Actually I think that might be the only way to isolate extremely contagious people or people with untreatable, contagious illnesses like this. But it would have to be a secure setting so they couldn't leave AND fairly luxurious so no one would feel deprived. It couldn't be a prison setting because that isn't fair. These people have a disease but they haven't committed a crime.

I honestly am very squeamish about giving the government power to isolate people simply because of diseases that are not their fault so there must be a balance between the individual's civil liberties and the safety of society. It is not possible for us to be perfectly safe from every disease, given the realities of air travel these days. I guess if they person will not isolate themselves willingly the authorities should take action but it depends on the actual risks involved.

[Rydz777]

12. He's an ambulance chaser! Now the other ambulance chasers

will be after him! There is some mysterious balance in the world.

[frazzled]

17. Are you saying John Edwards was an ambulance chaser?

Because that is what he was: a personal injury litigation attorney.

So is being one of those a good thing or a bad thing? Personally, I don't think you can say. We don't know this gentleman, and we don't know his practice. But we should be consistent in mocking peoples' professions.

[gatorboy]

26. We know he's a fucking moron.

Isn't that enough?

[frazzled]

31. No, I don't know that

I haven't been following this story that carefully, but my understanding is that all parties are at fault for this. He knew he had t.b. when he left the country for the wedding, probably long planned (I don't know), but wasn't informed until afterward that his disease was the serious untreatable kind. So imagine yourself: you've left your home and they tell you you can't come back. You must stay and receive treatment at a foreign hospital. I'd probably try to get home, too. Everyone failed here: the doctors, the airport security, the man.

Frankly, I have a lot of sympathy for him. He has a death sentence over his head, and everyone here seems to take some pleasure in calling him a "moron" and an ambulance chaser. As usual, the 24-hour cable news cycle makes you think you know this person, that you can judge him.

Plus, you didn't answer my question: does being a personal injury litigation lawyer make John Edwards an ambulance chaser? In other words, are all pils ambulance chasers? Yes or no?

[gatorboy]

42. I wasn't the one you originally asked.

You're obviously not keeping up with this thread either. ;)


And from the story:

"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."

So he had no trouble putting others in danger. That makes him a moron. A dangerous, selfish moron.

No, I take that back. It makes him a bio-terrorist.

[Catherine Vincent]

15. I don't know about the rest of you all but this guy really upsets me.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/4850920.html

The patient, who has a rare and dangerous form of tuberculosis, arrived at Denver's National Jewish Medical and Research Center for treatment Thursday, walking under his own power after flying from Atlanta with his wife and federal marshals.

He looked healthy and tan, and "he said he still felt fine," hospital spokesman William 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.

The man knew he had TB when he flew from Atlanta to Europe in mid-May for his wedding and honeymoon, but 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, the man flew home for treatment.


I hate that he got this serious disease and everything but he deliberately disobeyed federal authorities and flew back to the US knowing that he was contagious. Just because he felt fine didn't mean a darn thing. He put a lot of people in danger.

[hedgehog]

18. But, but, it was a destination wedding!

[spinbaby]

35. On Lynn Cullen today, they said...

...it was a mail-order bride.

[Norquist Nemesis]

23. He didn't simply fly back to the U.S.

From what I heard last night, he learned he was put on the no-fly list and deliberately evaded authorities by flying into Canada then driving across the border. Why in the world he was freely traipsing around the general population is a mystery to me. For instance, http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/local_story_255182540.html

[Catherine Vincent]

28. Yes, he did. Once he gets better I hope he gets charged with

wreckless endangerment or something like that. That's no excuse for what he did.

[IChing]

24. I know that Hospital and Research Center it is in the heart of Denver

About 20 blocks from where I used to live
on the corner of Colfax and Colorado Blvd
two of the most important roads in the heart of Denver.

http://www.google.com/maps?q=1400+Jackson+St,+Denver,+CO+80206,+USA&sa=X&oi=map&ct=title

[JackintheGreen]

16. Iraqis don't have names!

:sarcasm:

[Gold Metal Flake]

19. Is he a Republican?

He acts like one.

[dogday]

20. Instead of the Justice Hearing is what I am thinking

this is the perfect thing to get people off of that and on to the fear of being sick... This is terra in another shape and form, that's all...

[Poll_Blind]

21. I could see a class action suit from everyone on the airplane.

  Willful negligence, emotional pain and suffereing?

PB

[slackmaster]

22. A LAWYER?!?!?

Hang him high and burn the remains!

[libodem]

25. Shoot

I liked 'Contagious Man', sounds like the tital for a book or movie.

[IChing]

27. It was called

Twelve Monkeys

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :rofl:

[KurtNYC]

33. His website

http://www.atlantadivorce.poweradvocates.com/about.html

I got the cached version to load but it looks like this IP is getting hammered.

Cached:
http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:cpGx12IB6OoJ:atlantadivorce.poweradvocates.com/about.html+%22Andrew+Speaker%22+naval&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

[Poll_Blind]

34. Here's the PIC I got, presumably of him (his name, law firm)

PB

[frazzled]

39. Well, what we learn from this is ...

not really all that much.

(a) that he works in his father's firm

(b) that he must be fairly intelligent, because he got into the Naval Academy (very competitive), and that he won the American Bar Association's national mock trial award

(c) that he volunteers for the Spinal Center and got an award for it; that he sits on the board of his local Boys and Girls Club.

Other than that? ...

[El Supremo]

41. Shit, he's a fraternity brother!

I hope he doesn't mind if I don't offer him the secret handshake.

[kestrel91316]

40. My biggest concern here is:

How the HELL did he catch this bug, and who the hell is walking around spreading it to attorneys and such without being detected??

They NEED to find the source!

[El Supremo]

43. NPR said he got it on another trip to Asia.

[proud2BlibKansan]

47. Why did he go to Asia?

[Poll_Blind]

53. I have all these unsavory ideas why- especially how a wealthy....

...person would come in contact with someone who had it. Ah, it's just speculation...

PB

[proud2BlibKansan]

54. Exactly

[gatorboy]

44. Looks like Ted ran for Superior Court Judge in 2004.

http://www.gwinnettdailyonline.com/article193343B0F0E442C3AA6048DFC91DCBFE.asp

Would you trust this guy's better judgement.

[entanglement]

46. The poor guy has XDR TB - it's multi-drug resistant

Sucks to be him :(

[GreenPartyVoter]

48. And he was just getting ready for his wedding, yeah? :^(

[LibertyLover]

49. If nothing else

this proves that Homeland Security is a joke. From what I understand, his name and passport were flagged in their computers so that, supposedly, if he tried to get back in the country his name would pop up and he would not be permitted back in. The last I heard, Homeland Security was trying to figure out if that information had gone in soon enough - wtf? - aren't their computer lists updated at least daily? Once the decision was made to put him on the no-fly list and to flag his name and passport number, it should have been a matter of 24 hours at the most before it made its way onto the system. I am sorry that this man has a potentially deadly disease and I do hope that the resources of the National Jewish Medical and Research Center are able to help him. But there should be some consequences to his actions, although I am honestly at a loss to know what. However, the border security person who cleared him through at the Canadian border should also face some sort of consequences - if nothing else, a brush up course on checking the computer lists.

[Javaman]

50. His name is: T. Berculosi not to be confused with Bella Lugosi.

In other news: the east coast is under martial law.

[nini]

51. LOL I thought this was a SNL skit when I saw "Contagious Man"

who knows why, but it reminded me of Caveman lawyer or a role Phil Hartmann would play.


:crazy:

[question everything]

52. Hey, this is more information than the stuff the reporters were

asking this morning.

I turned CNN off so I never found out whether:

boxers or briefs?

what color are the window treatments?

what type of frames do the pictures in his room have?

were asked. They certainly would have fit the line of questioning.