U.S. states need greater power to quarantine individuals with contagious diseases, a top U.S. health official said last week (see GSN, June 7).
"If we believe the patient has a strong intent to put others at risk, we need to have confidence we can take action absent documentation of intent to cause harm," said Julie Gerberding, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
She appeared before a U.S. Senate committee to discuss the U.S. inability last month to prevent an Atlanta lawyer infected with drug-resistant tuberculosis from boarding several commercial airliners in the United States and Europe.
"First of all, up front, before the patient left the United States, we believe that we could strengthen our states' ability to restrict the movement of patients before they demonstrate noncompliance with the medical order," Gerberding said.
One health law expert, however, expressed concern over the scope of the powers Gerberding was seeking.
"That's not the federal government's role and it's far, far too broad a statement," said Peter Jacobson, a professor at the University of Michigan's Center for Law and Ethics and Health. "There has to be a credible threat, a direct threat of harm before you restrict someone's freedom to move, before you intrude on their individual liberties."
"For her to say, in such a broad manner, that a state should restrict people before they're noncompliant is extremely intrusive," he added (Kevin Freking, Associated Press/Ledger-Inquirer, June 9).