summary
- A Washington woman who was arrested for refusing tuberculosis treatment has finally been cured.
- Local health officials obtained court orders to force the patient into isolation and medication, but the patient repeatedly violated the orders.
- The health department said Monday that the woman had tested negative multiple times.
A Washington state woman who was arrested for continuously refusing to isolate and take her tuberculosis medication for more than a year has finally been cured of her tuberculosis.
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department said Monday that the woman has tested negative for tuberculosis on multiple occasions and has given authorities permission to share health updates.
“This case has received significant media coverage and has generated discussion in the community, so the patient and her family wanted to share the outcome of the case,” the health department said. It said in a statement.
In fact, the case garnered national attention and authorities spent months taking legal action to stop the woman from infecting others, even enlisting her family to help persuade her to seek treatment.
“She has regained the weight she lost and is healthy again,” the health department said. It said in a statementHe added that the woman and her family are “happy she is now getting the help she needs.”
Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria that attacks the lungs and other parts of the body and can be spread through the air when someone with active TB coughs, sneezes or talks.
to 13 million Some infected people in the United States have latent infections, meaning they are not contagious and do not show symptoms, but if left untreated, about 5% to 10% of latent infections will develop active disease.
TB is usually treated with daily or weekly antibiotics for several months, during which time people with active TB must be isolated until they are no longer contagious.
The Ministry of Health in January 2022 requested a court order requiring the woman, identified in court documents by the initials VN, to follow treatment and isolation protocols. Washington State Law Gives public health officials legal authority to seek court orders when denial of isolation or medication for tuberculosis threatens public health safety.
Over the next year, health officials obtained further court orders to force the patient to stay at home, but the patient continued to violate them.
One such violation was revealed in a petition filed by the Ministry of Health in January 2023. According to the petition, VN was a passenger in a traffic accident and visited the emergency room the next day with chest pain. However, she did not inform hospital staff of her tuberculosis infection. An X-ray at the emergency room revealed that her tuberculosis had worsened and that she was also infected with COVID-19.
By February 2023, the Ministry of Health had gone to court 16 times to address her insubordination, after which a judge found VN guilty of civil contempt and signed a warrant for her arrest, a move health officials saw as a last resort.
However, she was not immediately arrested. In April 2023, VN was seen boarding a bus to a casino.
According to documents filed by the health department in March 2023, the patient’s court-appointed attorney suggested his client didn’t understand the threat he posed to the community.
But the ministry said VN had knowingly violated the court’s order, adding that he had received copies of the order in both English and his native language and that an interpreter was present at each hearing.
“The only practicable action to protect public health is to have the defendant receive treatment in the Pierce County Jail,” officials wrote.
Officers took her to the prison in June 2023. She was being held in a “negative pressure” room, which prevents contaminated air from leaking out.
“It was at that point that she realised how serious her situation was and decided to seek treatment for the illness,” the Ministry of Health said. said on Monday“With the help of her family, our disease investigators were able to gain her trust. She started taking medication and over time, her health improved.”
Later that month, a judge released Ms. VN from prison on the condition that she remain in court-supervised home isolation. By July 2023, she began testing negative for TB and was allowed to end isolation.
Her case marks the third time in the past 20 years that the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department has sought a court order to detain someone who refuses tuberculosis treatment.
The ministry said Monday that some patients are avoiding treatment due to side effects, the length of the treatment period and the fact that “isolation is not always easy or affordable.”
Nationwide, the number of tuberculosis cases has been declining for 27 years, but has been increasing since 2020. Disease experts attribute this trend primarily to reduced access to health care and delayed diagnosis during the pandemic.
Health department spokesman Kenny Via said there are no new cases linked to the woman.
“This was a very unique case,” he said, “and we’re happy with where we’ve ended it and where we are now. It’s been a long process to get to this point.”
