TB, Public Health & Individual Civil Liberties

A man with a particularly dangerous drug resistant strain of TB was recently quarantined by the U.S. government in Denver, CO. The man--Andrew Speaker--was planning to fly to Paris from Atlanta, GA, after having tested positive for TB. He alleges that his doctor only "preferred" that he not fly. Apparently no medical professional had made it explicitly clear to him that he could not fly as he would infect and endanger those flying with him.

The attention that this story has garnered, however, raises an interesting constitutional question about balancing individual liberties with the common good. If in fact Mr. Speaker had been prohibited to fly and if his now apologetic self were not as caring for the health of others, would the U.S. be able to curtail his "right to be left alone" over the concern of possible infection during air travel? What about equal protection? Can the government treat individuals differently based on their health status? It is a point that has been raised before by Professor Lawrence Gostin of the Georgetown Law Center. In analyzing the World Health Organization International Health Regulations, Gostin concludes that sometimes compulsory measures against individuals with infectious diseases may be justified. He says:

"Yet, infectious disease powers curtail individual freedoms, including privacy (eg, surveillance), bodily integrity (eg, compulsory treatment), and liberty (eg, travel restrictions and quarantine)....States should have the power to sanction individuals with dangerous contagious diseases who refuse medical interventions."

It is hard to come to a conclusive answer. Not much precedent exists on the issue. How the justices would perceive the actual issue at hand would also be another question. Would it be an issue of national security? Could they perceive Mr. Speaker as essentially a vessel for spreading a hazardous biological weapon? Or would the issue be a more complicated balancing act, depending upon how serious the actual infection was? Sick people fly on airplanes all the time, but in this case the type of infection mattered.