I blogged the other day about the inappropriate disclosure of the TB patient’s identity. Over at Chronicles of Dissent, Dissent has an interesting post worth reading about the issue. He quotes Dr. Martin Cetron, Director of Division of Global Migration and Quarantine at CDC, who said: “I don’t think, publicly naming the individual, which we never do, has any advantage in [faciliating contacting individuals at risk of contracting TB from exposure to the patient], since this is not a disease that’s spread by casual interactions with the public.” Dissent writes:
Certainly by now, the patient has been portrayed in a generally unflattering light in the media — as someone who was only concerned about his own needs and desires and who gave little thought to the health of others. Less media attention has been paid to his statements that he was never ordered not to fly, that at the time he left the country, he had not been diagnosed with the dangerous treatment-resistant strain, and that after they contacted him in Europe to inform him, he felt the CDC did not move quickly enough to make arrangements for his safe travel back to the U.S. for treatment — so he made his own arrangements.
Check out the full post for more about the issue.
Originally Posted at Concurring Opinions
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This post was authored by Professor Daniel J. Solove, who through TeachPrivacy develops computer-based privacy training, data security training, HIPAA training, and many other forms of awareness training on privacy and security topics. Professor Solove also posts at his blog at LinkedIn. His blog has more than 1 million followers.
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