# Is That TB Guy The Biggest Asshole Ever, Or What? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 31, 2007, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-tb-guy-the-biggest-asshole-ever-or-what/406240 "2007-05-31T20:49:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Capatalist\_Lion\_Tamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71c47a/32.png) [@Capatalist\_Lion\_Tamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capatalist_Lion_Tamer)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-tb-guy-the-biggest-asshole-ever-or-what/406240/201 "2007-06-01T22:12:12Z")
[QUOTE=11811] How rough would the sex have to be for it to involve broken skin? Isn’t that the avenue of infection mentioned earlier? Shit, a light tussle would get you in the door infection-wise. [/QUOTE] I thought she “continued to test negative”? ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-tb-guy-the-biggest-asshole-ever-or-what/406240/202 "2007-06-01T22:14:28Z")
[QUOTE=brazil84] I tape all conversations that deal with personal (not business) issues. If I’m calling my bank; my credit card company; or anything like that, I tape the call. If I had TB and somebody from CDC told me on the phone that I couldn’t transmit the disease, you can bet your last dollar I’m taping that call. [/QUOTE] Good luck with it being admissible in court. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-tb-guy-the-biggest-asshole-ever-or-what/406240/203 "2007-06-01T22:16:13Z")
[QUOTE=Capatalist Lion Tamer] Link [here](http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/conditions/06/01/tb.flight/index.html) . [/QUOTE] From the link there was a couple of things that jumped out at me: 1. > [@](#): > > Speaker, 31, an Atlanta lawyer infected with a rare, often fatal form of tuberculosis, said he has a recording made before the couple flew to Europe that shows health officials told him he was not a risk to others… Fulton County health officials have said they told Speaker before his trip not to fly. > Asked about the tape, Steve Katkowsky of the Fulton County Health Department told CNN, “If such a recording was made it was without the consent and without the knowledge of Fulton County Health Department officials.” IANAL, but I am fairly certain that would be unlawful to tape record the conversation with out the permission of the personnel from the Health Department. :dubious: If it is in fact against the law, I would think a lawyer might know this. 2. Read the following two quotes from the article and tell me what is wrong with this picture > [@](#): > > Speaker said that once he was in Italy, officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta informed him that his case was more serious than they had realized. > [@](#): > > \*\*Speaker said he had been told before the beginning of his trip that in order to fight his illness, “I had one shot, and that was going to be in Denver,” \*\*at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center, which specializes in treating drug-resistant forms of TB. If he was somewhere else and was not given the exact right mixture of drugs, he said, “That was it, they blew my last shot.” (bolding and underlining mine Now wait just a minute, read the underlined part again. I assume that any half way decent hospital can treat standard TB. After all they have been doing it for many many years. If he was told the only place he could get effective treatment was in Denver at the place that specializes in turbo TB (I love that term) then it says to me that this slimeball either knew before he left he had turbo TB not the regular kind, or he (and the doctors) had a real strong suspicion that he had it, but the lab tests confirming it had not come back yet. I am voting for he is trying to cover his ass, and not doing the best job of it. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-tb-guy-the-biggest-asshole-ever-or-what/406240/204 "2007-06-01T22:19:52Z")
[QUOTE=Capatalist Lion Tamer] If he was truly told that he wasn’t contagious, then I’m not surprised he did what he felt was necessary, albeit illegal, to arrive back in the US. [/QUOTE] Again, go back and read where other posters say, that EVEN WITH REGULAR TB, people were advised not to go out, even to shop because they might spread the sickness! What part of that idea is so hard for you to extrapolate into the concept that “If they say that for “normal” TB, then surely they use even stronger wording for a case that might be XDR-TB”? ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-tb-guy-the-biggest-asshole-ever-or-what/406240/205 "2007-06-01T22:22:26Z")
[QUOTE=11811] How rough would the sex have to be for it to involve broken skin? Isn’t that the avenue of infection mentioned earlier? Shit, a light tussle would get you in the door infection-wise. [/QUOTE] No, they said that being in close quarters for lengthy amounts of time would risk infection. They also said that infection could be spread just by talking. (ETA: IOW, sharing air with the carrier/sick person.) Sex wasn’t mentioned at all, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-tb-guy-the-biggest-asshole-ever-or-what/406240/206 "2007-06-01T22:25:14Z")
[QUOTE=Queen Bruin] Good luck with it being admissible in court. [/QUOTE] Why wouldn’t it be admissible? ---
**Author:** ![Capatalist\_Lion\_Tamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71c47a/32.png) [@Capatalist\_Lion\_Tamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capatalist_Lion_Tamer)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-tb-guy-the-biggest-asshole-ever-or-what/406240/207 "2007-06-01T22:25:39Z")
[QUOTE=Rick] Now wait just a minute, read the underlined part again. I assume that any half way decent hospital can treat standard TB. After all they have been doing it for many many years. If he was told the only place he could get effective treatment was in Denver at the place that specializes in turbo TB (I love that term) then it says to me that this slimeball either knew before he left he had turbo TB not the regular kind, or he (and the doctors) had a real strong suspicion that he had it, but the lab tests confirming it had not come back yet. I am voting for he is trying to cover his ass, and not doing the best job of it. [/QUOTE] He was under the impression that he had something between “the regular kind” and what he was eventually diagnosed with. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-tb-guy-the-biggest-asshole-ever-or-what/406240/208 "2007-06-01T22:27:29Z")
[QUOTE=Capatalist Lion Tamer] He was under the impression that he had something between “the regular kind” and what he was eventually diagnosed with. [/QUOTE] Then he knew better to go overseas, and he ALSO knew better than to travel back to the USA via plane and car once he heard his diagnosis of XDR-TB! ---
**Author:** ![Capatalist\_Lion\_Tamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71c47a/32.png) [@Capatalist\_Lion\_Tamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capatalist_Lion_Tamer)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-tb-guy-the-biggest-asshole-ever-or-what/406240/209 "2007-06-01T22:29:09Z")
[QUOTE=Zabali\_Clawbane] Again, go back and read where other posters say, that EVEN WITH REGULAR TB, people were advised not to go out, even to shop because they might spread the sickness! What part of that idea is so hard for you to extrapolate into the concept that “If they say that for “normal” TB, then surely they use even stronger wording for a case that might be XDR-TB”? [/QUOTE] I imagine there were two factors involved: 1. He thought he would die if he stayed in Italy. 2. The advice that is given is more of a precautionary measure (not saying it is, but he may have thought so), and that he felt as though he could return home without infecting anyone. Add to that his wife’s failure to contract the disease despite spending months with him & he probably thought the risk of infecting someone in a few hours was close to zero. After weighing 1) and 2), he decided to risk it. ---
**Author:** ![Capatalist\_Lion\_Tamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71c47a/32.png) [@Capatalist\_Lion\_Tamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capatalist_Lion_Tamer)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-tb-guy-the-biggest-asshole-ever-or-what/406240/210 "2007-06-01T22:30:26Z")
[QUOTE=Zabali\_Clawbane] Then he knew better to go overseas, and he ALSO knew better than to travel back to the USA via plane and car once he heard his diagnosis of XDR-TB! [/QUOTE] I love how you continue to say things that I have repeatedly agreed with. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-tb-guy-the-biggest-asshole-ever-or-what/406240/211 "2007-06-01T22:30:54Z")
[QUOTE=brazil84] I tape all conversations that deal with personal (not business) issues. If I’m calling my bank; my credit card company; or anything like that, I tape the call. If I had TB and somebody from CDC told me on the phone that I couldn’t transmit the disease, you can bet your last dollar I’m taping that call. [/QUOTE] How was your trip, Mr. Nixon? ---
**Author:** ![Capatalist\_Lion\_Tamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71c47a/32.png) [@Capatalist\_Lion\_Tamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capatalist_Lion_Tamer)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-tb-guy-the-biggest-asshole-ever-or-what/406240/212 "2007-06-01T22:33:00Z")
[QUOTE=Zabali\_Clawbane] Then he knew better to go overseas, and he ALSO knew better than to travel back to the USA via plane and car once he heard his diagnosis of XDR-TB! [/QUOTE] By the way, nobody has yet to demonstrate that he was more contagious after he was diagnosed with XDR. The fact that none of the passengers from any of his flights have been quarantined is interesting to me. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-tb-guy-the-biggest-asshole-ever-or-what/406240/213 "2007-06-01T22:36:28Z")
[QUOTE=brazil84] Why wouldn’t it be admissible? [/QUOTE] Well, it might be admissible in court against you. Isn’t recording conversations without the other party’s consent illegal in many jurisdictions? ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-tb-guy-the-biggest-asshole-ever-or-what/406240/214 "2007-06-01T22:37:14Z")
[QUOTE=Capatalist Lion Tamer] By the way, nobody has yet to demonstrate that he was more contagious after he was diagnosed with XDR. The fact that none of the passengers from any of his flights have been quarantined is interesting to me. [/QUOTE] It takes weeks to run the test for XDR-TB, we wouldn’t know yet. I’m puzzled that you keep defending him with “yeah, buts”. What he did was wrong, period. There is no excuse for his behavior. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-tb-guy-the-biggest-asshole-ever-or-what/406240/215 "2007-06-01T22:39:46Z")
[QUOTE=Monty] Well, it might be admissible in court against you. Isn’t recording conversations without the other party’s consent illegal in many jurisdictions? [/QUOTE] It’s not illegal in my jurisdiction. Anyway, I am not aware of any general rule that makes illegally obtained evidence inadmissible in civil proceedings. ---
**Author:** ![Capatalist\_Lion\_Tamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71c47a/32.png) [@Capatalist\_Lion\_Tamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capatalist_Lion_Tamer)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-tb-guy-the-biggest-asshole-ever-or-what/406240/216 "2007-06-01T22:40:57Z")
[QUOTE=Zabali\_Clawbane] There is no excuse for his behavior. [/QUOTE] I am just trying to understand his reasoning. You may think there is no excuse, but he may have felt like he had a damn good one, especially if nobody contracts the disease. I’m most certainly not defending everything he did, I just refuse to believe the guy is as evil as everyone is dying to believe. Having met him, I know that he isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-tb-guy-the-biggest-asshole-ever-or-what/406240/217 "2007-06-01T22:47:53Z")
[QUOTE=Monty] Isn’t recording conversations without the other party’s consent illegal in many jurisdictions? [/QUOTE] > [@](#): > > Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia permit individuals to record conversations to which they are a party without informing the other parties that they are doing so. > … > Twelve states require, under most circumstances, the consent of all parties to a conversation. Those jurisdictions are California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington. [http://www.rcfp.org/taping/index.html](http://www.rcfp.org/taping/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-tb-guy-the-biggest-asshole-ever-or-what/406240/218 "2007-06-01T22:48:35Z")
[QUOTE=Capatalist Lion Tamer] By the way, nobody has yet to demonstrate that he was more contagious after he was diagnosed with XDR. The fact that none of the passengers from any of his flights have been quarantined is interesting to me. [/QUOTE] Douchebag is the first person to be quarantined in the US in 40 years, and I have a strong feeling that the _only_ reason he’s been quarantined is because he’s got the habit of running all over the place. Additionally, many of the people who were exposed to this bozo are **outside of the US** , and given the US-centric nature of the news, it doesn’t surprise me a bit that we haven’t heard a thing about what’s going on with those folks. Hell, we probably haven’t even found all of them as of yet. ---
**Author:** ![Capatalist\_Lion\_Tamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71c47a/32.png) [@Capatalist\_Lion\_Tamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capatalist_Lion_Tamer)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-tb-guy-the-biggest-asshole-ever-or-what/406240/219 "2007-06-01T22:48:45Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] [http://www.rcfp.org/taping/index.html](http://www.rcfp.org/taping/index.html) [/QUOTE] Ignorance fought, here. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-tb-guy-the-biggest-asshole-ever-or-what/406240/220 "2007-06-01T22:54:15Z")
[QUOTE=brazil84] It’s not illegal in my jurisdiction. Anyway, I am not aware of any general rule that makes illegally obtained evidence inadmissible in civil proceedings. [/QUOTE] Yes, but if you broke the law to obtain that evidence (unlike say, a police officer failing to follow proper proceedure), I’d be surprised if you _didn’t_, at the very least, get to have a meeting with the local authorities. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-tb-guy-the-biggest-asshole-ever-or-what/406240.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-tb-guy-the-biggest-asshole-ever-or-what/406240.md?page=12)