Turnabout is Fair Play
What's the appropriate punishment for "TB Guy", the personal injury lawyer with extremely-drug-resistant tuberculosis, who along with his family intentionally flouted medical advice regarding his illness and travel plans for a wedding and honeymoon abroad with complete disregard for the well-being of the rest of humanity?
Seems to me the answer is obvious: everyone exposed to him as a result can sue the socks off TB Guy et al, especially anyone unfortunate enough to actually catch the illness.
I'm not surprised a personal injury lawyer could lack a working conscience. But even a sociopath can learn to fear consequences.
I read today that the original Typhoid Mary, once caught, was quarantined for the rest of her life. That may have to be the fate of TB Guy as well. With a proven lack of ethics, he certainly ought not again be allowed near folks he might infect.
Nice for TB Guy that he currently lacks active symptoms of TB, but reportedly his odds of dying from TB remain 30%, so it doesn't seem sensible to let him share that risk with others.
So far as I'm concerned, TB Guy and his co-conspirators can repay all costs of locating, quarantining and treating him.
I also find myself wondering what planet his father and new wife were from to cooperate in all this?
Update: The first rule of holes is that when you are in one, stop digging. Sounds here like TB Man's parents are still using their shovel:
"'We are not people of reckless behavior, nor is Andrew,' said Andrew's mother, Cheryl Speaker.
If he thought he was contagious, she said: 'He would have been the first one not to go.'
Ted Speaker said he taped a meeting in which a doctor says three times that his son was not contagious though the doctors preferred that he not fly. The elder Speaker said he will release the tape at some point.
While many people were outraged by Speaker's actions, his father didn't seemed worried when asked about possibly being served with a lawsuit over the case.
'If they want to serve me go ahead,' Ted Speaker said. 'I am not at fault. My son is not at fault.'"
The first commenter on that article, a Sarah B. captured my feelings well: "The more these people say, the madder I get. They unnecessarily and selfishly put others at risk, a concept any personal injury attorney should understand as wrong."
Update2: Turnabout has begun. TB man has now been sued by 8 passengers on his flight from Europe, and at least 4 other passengers have reportedly also contacted him regarding possible additional suits. Details here.
Apparently his strain of TB is also not quite as bad as initially feared, good news for all concerned.
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