PHOENIX – A man who had been quarantined with a drug-resistant form of tuberculosis for nearly a year was being transferred Thursday to a hospital in Colorado.
Robert Daniels, 27, has an extremely drug-resistant form of TB, known as XDR. He was placed in a jail ward at Maricopa Medical Center in Phoenix last August under court order after medical authorities complained that he had endangered others.
Thursday morning, Daniels was being taken to Denver's National Jewish Medical and Research Center, which specializes in treating respiratory diseases, said Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Atlanta attorney Andrew Speaker, who caused an international health scare in May after he flew to Europe knowing he had a drug-resistant form of tuberculosis, is being treated at the same Denver hospital and underwent successful surgery this week.
Linda Cosme, a lawyer for Daniels, said her client's transfer to Denver was sought by Maricopa County medical experts because Daniels' condition was deteriorating.
Though Daniels wasn't charged with a crime, Arpaio said his office was examining whether Daniels endangered others by disobeying instructions from health officials such as wearing a mask.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit claiming Daniels was being treated like a criminal while in the Phoenix hospital and his rights were being violated.
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