This is a continuation of my last blog post titled, “Ebola Is Not Only a Hot Topic on the National Stage but also a Hot Topic in Atlanta, Georgia at the Public Health Law Conference ~ part 1.”
You can not help but ask: How we can get control of the Ebola disease before the death toll rises in the United States? In Africa, there does not seem to be an end in sight. In the United States, where we are so accustomed to our liberties and freedoms, and rightfully so, how do we mentally handle the challenge of a potential quarantine of our Constitutionally based freedoms such as travel?
Although many are surprised that our President appointed an attorney, verses a doctor or other professional with more experience with urgent issues of this type, to be his eyes, ears and possible voice for this potential pandemic, I am not surprised given the legal issues that could transpire should the government not act in a timely, effective, and responsible manner regarding this situation.
The government, including the President, may not be able to hide behind the governmental immunity shield should we become a nation that is paralyzed by a disease that transpired thousands of miles away and that our government failed to effectively control, especially when it could have contained the issue before it spiraled out of control. The warning signs are here now, and now is the time to act before it is too late.
Unlike HIV and AIDS, it is still unclear exactly how this disease is transmitted from person to person and that makes it a much more deadly and massive potential case scenario. I am not sure we have wrapped our heads around this disease in any real fashion except to say that if you have had contact with an infected individual that you may now be an infected individual.
At least with HIV and AIDS, we learned early in the game how the disease was contracted, with Ebola, however, although we have learned that contact with bodily fluids of an infected person can cause contraction of the disease, and that it appears not to be an airborne disease, we have not learned to what extent this alleged “contact” is in order to protect ourselves.
For example, is contact such as a hand shake, a sneeze, a drop of infected fluid on a public toilet seat enough to put yourself in eminent danger of contracting the virus, or do you have to have more immediate and constant contact? When we see those who are treating others infected with the disease in full disease warfare gear, and those who are infected with the disease held in strict quarantine, we can’t help but imagine that suffice it to say we don’t know how easily or difficult it is to catch or transmit this disease.
One thing is clear, we need to know more about this disease in order to defend ourselves against it as when it strikes it takes no prisoners, is color blind, and death is most likely the end result without extensive and proper treatment. Ebola is nothing to fool around with or take lightly.
At Julie A. Rice, Attorney at Law, & Affiliates, we are experts in all of the potential legal practice claims that an individual infected with Ebola, and her or his family, could potentially bring such as those mentioned in my last blog post including, but not limited to, Wrongful Death, Workers’ Compensation, Federal Tort Claims Act, and Medical Malpractice, so if you or a loved one think you have a claim regarding this disease, then Contact Us as soon as possible for your free legal consultation.
We are now accepting cases in both Florida and Georgia, and, in some cases, Nationwide.
Another Related Article: Nurse at Dallas Ebola Hospital Hires Fort Lauderdale Lawyer.