NEW YORK- NOVEMBER 27: A doctor examines the x-rays of a tuberculosis (TB) patient at a TB clinic Novmeber 27, 2002 in Brooklyn, New York. Healthcare workers around the country oversee patients in a program called Directly Observed Therapy (DOT) that ensures carriers of the tuberculosis bacteria take their medication. Tuberculosis is a contagious disease of the lungs that is spread through the air and kills around 2 million people annually, mainly in third world countries. It is relatively easy and affordable to treat, with a six-month series of drugs costing around 10 dollars. While the number of TB cases in the United States has dropped in recent years, the disease is still particularly strong among the foreign-born, the homeless and impoverished contributing to the deaths of thousands of Americans yearly. As of 2000, over 16,000 Americans have contracted tuberculosis. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Police have been dispatched to arrest a Washington state woman with an active case of tuberculosis who, for over a year, has repeatedly refused to isolate or get treatment for the infectious disease, health officials said Friday.
The woman, whose name the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department declined to divulge but who was identified in court papers by the initials V.N., was given plenty of chances to isolate or seek treatment.
Judge Philip Sorensen signed the arrest warrant "as a last resort" on Thursday after health officials appealed to him for a 16th time on Feb. 24 to get the woman to comply with his order that she either resume taking her medication or voluntarily isolate herself.
“Respondent’s objections to the order of February 24, 2023 are noted, preserved, and are insufficient to alter the court’s order,” Sorensen wrote. "The Pierce County Jail shall be authorized to transport V.N. to an appropriate designated facility within Pierce County including, but not limited to Department of Corrections facilities."
Get DFW local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC DFW newsletters.
Sorensen did not elaborate in his order on why V.N. has refused to comply. But he did warn the arresting officers that they would be transporting "a patient with active tuberculosis" and to take "appropriate precautions."
Read the full story at NBCNews.com
