Man locked up for TB
Apr. 3rd, 2007 12:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
javasaurusMan locked up for TB -- why? because it's a nearly untreatable drug-resistant strain, and he refused to take actions to protect the public safety, like wearing a mask in public. The act of incarcerating dangerous-to-the-public patients is not unheard of. The question the article raises is, "is it ethical?"
My thoughts: the man became a danger to society -- that's unfortunate. But he could have reduced that danger and chose not to. That's criminal. We have a long history of people who, when mentally sick to the point of public danger, are locked up for the safety of the public. Why should physical dangers be different? In the present case, the man is being kept without benefit of television, phone, even a mirror, but the article didn't say why, and that seems undue.
A more important question perhaps is, who decides what a public danger is, to the point of locking somebody up without a trial? Mental illness cases lead to this. Public health safety leads to this. More recently, suspicion of terrorism can lead to this. Where should the line be? Who gets to decide?
My thoughts: the man became a danger to society -- that's unfortunate. But he could have reduced that danger and chose not to. That's criminal. We have a long history of people who, when mentally sick to the point of public danger, are locked up for the safety of the public. Why should physical dangers be different? In the present case, the man is being kept without benefit of television, phone, even a mirror, but the article didn't say why, and that seems undue.
A more important question perhaps is, who decides what a public danger is, to the point of locking somebody up without a trial? Mental illness cases lead to this. Public health safety leads to this. More recently, suspicion of terrorism can lead to this. Where should the line be? Who gets to decide?
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no subject
Date: 2007-04-03 08:24 pm (UTC)Why on earth would they lock up a man for a TB? Did he steal the racehorse or could they not tell the difference between a race-horse and a human?
[/silly]
Mentally ill people are (supposedly) locked up for their own safety. Criminals are locked up to rehab them.
He claims to not have realized that he was a danger to society. Now that he has, would he behave if he was released?
Of course this is all complicated by the fact that it is not clear that he is a citizen. We deport people for a number of reasons, endangering public health seems like a fine one to me (though how to get him out of the country w/out infecting everyone is likely to be a headache).
All that said, it seems like some sort of sterile access to the outside world would be reasonable. I suspect the reason he doesn't have any niceties is that most people who are in that area are too sick to notice and that leaves a lot fewer things to be fumigated/destroyed after he leaves. In a regular hospital, they can use disinfectants on things but for this disease, what disinfectants will work? Which of them can be used internally on a computer or keyboard. Now, they could put the computer in a room with a window to his room and just plan to burn the keyboard and seriously seal the holes that the wires go through. They could give him a disposable remote (or heck, encase it in a clear plastic bag) and pt the TV in a separate room. How was he able to do the interview?
I feel sorry for the man but he KNEW he was sick when he came back to this country. If the doctors didn't make it clear to him that he MUST wear the mask (and the language/culture barrier could have been a problem) then they are partially responsible. However, even if he does wear a mask while out in public, what happens when he takes a shower? Sleeps? Wanders around his apartment w/out the mask? Coughs up something charming into a tissue and throws that in the trash....
*shudder*