A woman in Washington has been detained after more than a year of refusing treatment for an active case of tuberculosis and repeatedly failing to appear in court, NPR reported June 3.
Identified in court documents only as V.N., her initial diagnosis was made in 2022, and her reluctance to receive treatment led Tacoma-Pierce County health officials to eventually take the case to court 16 times asking for legal enforcement as a "last resort," Nigel Turner, the county's director of communicable disease control, said in a March statement.
The judge issued a civil arrest warrant for the woman in March upon the health department's request, and she was subsequently spotted on public transportation heading to a casino while continuing to fail to appear for scheduled court hearings.
"Most people we contact are happy to get the treatment they need," Mr. Turner said in a Jan. 30 statement. "Occasionally people refuse treatment and isolation. When that happens, we take steps to help keep the community safe. … The Health Department has an obligation to the community and the legal authority to seek a court order to persuade patients to comply, and in very rare cases we will do so."
Now that V.N. has been detained, she is being held in a negative pressure room, according to NPR, designed to restrict airflow in an attempt to prevent further spread of the airborne virus.
She is not facing any criminal charges and will now be subjected to a 45-day quarantine. If her case of tuberculosis resolves sooner than that, and she is deemed to no longer be a public health threat, she may be allowed to leave sooner, the news outlet reported.