Doctor has TB; state says doctor is not highly contagious
1:41 PM Fri, Mar 21, 2008 | Permalink
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A Rhode Island doctor with a private practice and privileges in local hospitals has been diagnosed with tuberculosis. The state Department of Health in a statement today says the doctor has been sick for about six weeks, and does not appear to be highly contagious. The Health Department did not identify the doctor or where he or she practiced because of medical privacy laws. "The director of health can legally release information if there is a direct public health threat," said department spokeswoman Andrea Bagnall Degos. But since the department is able to contact the patients personally, the doctor's name will not be released. “This case, like the recent case of TB in Central Falls, shows us that TB is an ongoing illness in our state," Gifford said in the statement. “As we did in Central Falls, we are conducting an extensive investigation, that typically takes two to three months, to make sure no one was infected.” The Health Department is working with the doctor’s family and co-workers, the hospitals that the doctor works with, and the RISE TB Clinic to determine whether further testing is necessary. If the department determines that any of the doctor’s patients need to be tested, the department will mail and call in notifications. Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection that spreads through the air, causing disease in the lungs and other parts of the body. Some symptoms include weight loss, night sweats, weakness or fatigue, loss of appetite, and more than three weeks of coughing. There are about 50 cases a year in Rhode Island, which are investigated by the Department of Health. 
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It seems to me that a doctor with TB is a public health threat. Think of all the patients who have been in close contact with him/her. Have the doctor's patients been contacted? If so, please tell that to your readers. If the patients have not been contacted, please give us the rationale. The health department folks saying that they are "able" to contact the patients doesn't cut it. Did they or didn't they?
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Where did the doctor contract TB from? Obviously from someone who WAS highly contagious. And was he contagious in the last six weeks when he was in local hospitals?
Well, at least this will strengthen everybody's scare of going into the hospital, where MRSA or TB can cause you to be in worse shape when you get out than when you went in. Fewer hospital patients will keep down the health care payouts of BCBS and other providers. Savings!
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I would think this is a public threat to all. If it is spread through the air, he's been in contact with more people than just his patients! What about the rest of us?
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