Ethics in Healthcare
At the time of Mr. Speaker’s quarantine, the information available was that he was suffering from an untreatable form of drug resistant tuberculosis. With this in mind, the most prudent action to take was to isolate him in a ward and conduct further tests to confirm the diagnosis. This particular strain of TB is infectious and untreatable; any effort to control its spread should be the biggest concern of any public health officer. Isolating him was also beneficiary for Mr. Speaker because he would have been put on treatment had the subsequent test confirmed the initial diagnosis. His autonomy ...