TB patient arrested

A man from Stockton was arrested May 15 for refusing to regularly take his tuberculosis medication.

Armando Rodriguez, 34, stopped treatment for the highly contagious airborne disease because he didn’t want to damage his liver while on an alcohol and methamphetamine bender, according to The Associated Press. Ginger Wick, nursing director for San Joaquin County, wrote a letter requesting a warrant for Rodriguez’s arrest after he failed to take his medication on several occasions. He was detained for refusing to comply with a tuberculosis order to be at home at certain times to take his medicine.

The arrest has stirred a debate over the merits of mandatory treatment of infectious disease. Some health professionals, like Georgetown University public-health law professor Lawrence Gostin, believe the arrest was made in error.

“The whole intention is to protect the public’s health,” he said. “It’s not to lay blame on someone.”