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Elizabeth
Citizen
Username: Momof4peepers
Post Number: 174
Registered: 12-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 23, 2006 - 11:28 pm: | 
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At what point should the courts get involved in medical decisions? Somewhat of a tangent on the boy-forced-to-take-chemo thread.
(this is from my hometown newspaper)
From The Northwest Herald
Woman fighting county denies she has disease
LAKE IN THE HILLS – A 67-year-old Lake in the Hills woman who is refusing treatment for tuberculosis said Tuesday that she would not give in to county authorities because she did not believe that she had the disease.
The woman, who has been identified as Anna Ferguson, has been unwilling to take medication for the communicable disease, which county health officials said she had contracted. County prosecutors filed a court document Monday that seeks to force Ferguson to comply with their request and to stay in her home until she no longer is contagious.
"I want a private doctor's opinion," said Ferguson, who lives in the 600 block of Grace Drive. "I don't trust the system out here. They are just too determined to make me take these medications."
Prosecutors said Tuesday that they still were searching for a safe location to conduct a hearing on the matter.
County officials first learned of the case when Ferguson's great-grandson, who lives in the same house as Ferguson, was diagnosed with tuberculosis in May. Ferguson's granddaughter, who also lives with her, also tested positive for the bacteria.
County prosecutors said that Ferguson's great-grandson and granddaughter, as well as others in the home who do not have the bacteria, are taking medication to prevent it from spreading.
Ferguson, who said she had not left her home in 18 months, believes that her son contracted the bacteria at the hospital, and that county health officials were trying to cover up the possible "malpractice."
"If I take this [medication] and it affects my liver, then I may die from that," she said. "If I do get sick, it will be because of them [county health workers]."
Ferguson said that she could not afford to go to the doctor because she did not have insurance, and that she could not afford an attorney to help her fight the legal battle she now faces.
"This has just been a lot of stress for me," she said.
By ROB PHILLIPS
rphillips@nwherald.com
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combustion
Citizen
Username: Spontaneous
Post Number: 453
Registered: 4-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 23, 2006 - 11:34 pm: |
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Was she tested? Are they assuming she has TB just because her great-grandson and her granddaughter tested positive? If they know she has it, then it could be a public health issue, not merely an issue over her right to decide what to do with her own health. |
greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 9124
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, August 24, 2006 - 8:05 am: |
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Anyone who is exposed to TB in close quarters should be given meds, either prophylactically or for treatment.
Sure, she should be tested. But even if she doesn't test positive, she should take the meds. TB is a dangerous, contagious disease in close quarters. It can develop later. Do you want to sit in church, a restaurant, an office with this woman? I sure as hell don't.
Hospitals and prisons are notorious for nosocomial infections; just because her grandson may have contracted it elsewhere and brought it home doesn't mean that she isn't at risk and putting others at risk.
This is a public health issue. Cancer is not contagious.
Trivia: smallpox was eradicated as a worldwide epidemic at the point of a gun. Years ago, when the worldwide program was started, many docs went into towns and villages everywhere accompanied by the military. Hundreds of thousands of lives were probably saved. |
Soparents
Supporter
Username: Soparents
Post Number: 2769
Registered: 5-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, August 24, 2006 - 8:23 am: |
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greentree is right, if this is one person, and the ailment stays with one person, I don't believe they should be forced into doing anything, but this is a widespread problem, and the health of the public needs to be taken into account. She should be made to test for it, as they need to find out if she is a carrier. Once tested, knowing that she has been exposed, she should be made to take medication. Chances are she already has it and that she is the source and it needs to be dealt with. |
cppkqp
Citizen
Username: Cppkqp
Post Number: 162
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, August 24, 2006 - 9:51 am: |
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I agree that this is a public-health issue. Although she claims she hasn't left her home in 18 months, what prevents her from walking through the village square tomorrow?
Why don't they offer her a free TB test, administered by a mutually-acceptable doctor? If she'll agree that a positive test means she takes the meds, no court needs to get involved. The exposure from her grandson suggests that she needs prophylactic meds; where he contracted it from is irrelevant.
My husband works with indigents in NYC and thus is at risk of exposure to TB. His employer offers periodic TB screenings which are well worth the cost and effort to administer!
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