THE DAILY BLADE: TB Tort Lawyer Gets Sued For Causing Pain And Suffering
Montreal lawyer Anlac Nguyen filed a $1.3 million lawsuit against TB-infected traveler Andrew Speaker in Quebec Superior Court on behalf of seven Canadians and two citizens of the Czech Republic. Eight of them were passengers on a flight from Prague to Montreal with Speaker, and the ninth is a brother of one of the passengers.
Nguyen tells The Associated Press that Speaker’s boarding a commercial flight after being warned not to by U.S. health officials caused his clients long-term distress:
"They do not have tuberculosis, but nobody can say that they won't have tuberculosis either. And that will not be known, not now, not next year, but for many years in the future, so the pain and suffering that the people have gone through are real. They continue to suffer now because of the uncertainty."
Nassim Tabri a 26-year-old graduate student who sat one row in front of Speaker is seeking $134,900 - the highest amount sought among the nine plaintiffs - for pain, suffering and "loss of opportunities." His first TB skin test was negative, and he is awaiting the results of follow-up testing. Tabri says he is "very stressed, very shocked" and his lawyer claims he "had to change all his academic plans" – but did not specify how.
Tabri's roommate and twin brother, Rami, is seeking $28,500 - the lowest amount among the plaintiffs – presumably for being exposed to the potentially fatal respiratory disease via his brother. "We will admit we are testing the water with that case," said Nguyen.
Another plaintiff, a 72-year-old man, tested positive for TB in first skin test and will undergo further testing to rule out a false-positive result. However, the motion claims he is living in a separate room from his wife.
In all, 29 people who shared the transcontinental flight with Speaker are considered at highest risk of contracting TB because of their proximity to him, but the Public Health Agency of Canada says that there is no evidence any of them has contracted TB as a result. Nonetheless, Nguyen believes more passengers on the flight may sue Speaker.
For his part, Speaker claims that health officials never asked him to go into isolation, and that they were responsible for creating worldwide panic by misdiagnosing him with a more virulent strain of TB than he had (second item). The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Fulton County health officials dispute both those allegations, and maintain that their actions were proper and prudent. In fact, Speaker remains under quarantine while undergoing treatment in a Denver hospital.
Keep in mind that Speaker is a personal injury attorney – which means that half the books on the shelves lining his office are law books, and the other half are medical books. He has a far more sophisticated understanding of medical issues than the average American – and even the average attorney who does not handle tort cases.
In addition, it begs credulity to believe that Speaker did not consult his father-in-law - an infectious disease expert at the CDC - before determining (fourth item) that the needs of the one (his not getting the best medical care possible in Europe) outweighed the needs of the many (going into isolation to ensure other people were not endangered).
Finally, the story he and his bride, Sarah Cooksey, told Diane Sawyer (video link) on "Good Morning America" was riddled with contradictions. At one point, Cooksey broke down in tears recounting her fears for her new husband's life - and then wiped them away with French manicured nails.
Bio-Weapons In Basra?
After honey badgers suddenly appeared near the British base at the airport in Basra, the locals began hearing and repeating rumors that UK troops had "introduced strange man-eating, bear-like beasts into the area to sow panic," reports BBC News. Military spokesman Major Mike Shearer issued a firm denial: "We can categorically state that we have not released man-eating badgers into the area. We have been told these are indigenous nocturnal carnivores that don't attack humans unless cornered."
Iraqi housewife Suad Hassan, 30, claims a badger attacked her as she slept. She tells BBC News, "My husband hurried to shoot it but it was as swift as a deer. It is the size of a dog but his head is like a monkey."
[Editorial Note: The Stiletto’s sources in Iraq captured this video of the brutal beasts, which are indigenous to Africa and the Middle East and can "take on a cobra," according to BBC News.]
How The Stars Are Aligning
The Washington Post tracks which celebrities are contributing to, or stumping for, which presidential candidates. For the time-pressed, here it is in a handy dandy cheat sheet*:
† Clinton: "Babyface" Edmonds; Adam Levine; Katherine McPhee; Steven Spielberg
† Obama: Jennifer Aniston; George Clooney; Matt Damon; David Geffen; Edward Norton; Susan Sarandon; Etan Thomas
† Edwards: Hank Azaria; James Denton; Danny Glover
† Giuliani: Kelsey Grammer; Adam Sandler
*In the interest of brevity, The Stiletto includes only the top candidates from each party who have support from celebrities you’ve actually heard of. Likewise, celebrities who are still undecided are not included. For the B List candidates and/or D List celebs, please refer to the WaPo article.
We need more of those "bio-weapons" - something you can see and shoot! (Alcohol works well for most microscopic and macroscopic buggers.)
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