Posted on 07/11/2007 10:22:19 AM PDT by Red Badger
LITTLE ROCK - A man kept in isolation after he was diagnosed with contagious tuberculosis broke a hospital window and fled from his room at a Little Rock hospital.
Franklin Greenwood, 50, was placed in isolation on June 29 after he was seen coughing up blood outside of the city's traffic court and was released by a judge to the state Health Department's custody. He left the hospital on July 1. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported Greenwood's disappearance in Wednesday's editions.
A state health official said Greenwood has a form of tuberculosis that would respond to treatment but that it is still important to find him because he is contagious.
Greenwood had been at Little Rock District Court for traffic offenses, officials said. He was taken to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences hospital, where he was under a medical isolation order, according to the Health Department.
State tuberculosis control officer Dr. Iram Bakhtawar wrote in a draft affidavit that Greenwood is believed to have "an active case of tuberculosis in an active state and in a communicable form."
The affidavit said Greenwood had previously been treated for the lung disease but did not complete treatment. The document shows that recent chest X-rays indicated Greenwood's tuberculosis was getting worse.
State deputy health officer Dr. Joe Bates said Greenwood left the hospital before all tests could be completed.
"We'd like to have more information than we have, but I think its highly probable, highly, highly probable that he's infectious to others," Bates said. "If he would take the treatment, he would become rapidly noninfectious."
Tuberculosis is transmitted by air in nearly all cases. Active TB patients normally cough, dispersing particles that can float in the air for hours.
UAMS spokeswoman Leslie Taylor said the hospital had no authority to keep Greenwood in custody but kept a civilian worker outside his room.
"He wasn't in our custody. DHHS had put him here under a medical hold, but it wasn't anything that we had officers there to keep him there," Taylor said.
"When it was discovered that he had left, everyone was notified," she said.
State police spokesman Bill Sadler says the agency was notified of the escape on July 2, a day after Greenwood got out. He said troopers were told to watch for him. Spokesmen for the Little Rock police and the Pulaski County Sheriff's Department say they were not told about Greenwood.
Greenwood is described as a thin white male with a ruddy complexion, a ragged appearance and shoulder-length hair. He is 5 feet, 10 inches and weighs about 150 pounds.
I’d say a stoning is in order ...
I don’t think I will be going into town afterall.
I needed a good excuse to stay under the AC unit and drink “refreshments”.
This ain’t the guy in Colorado........
Man, if that doesn't just scream "Democrat"...
You gotta find him first. Then you can toss out the first stone........
Sounds more like a meth addict.........
Virulent TB is as good an excuse as any.......
This is Arkansas. It’s ALL hills!.......
....or flaming something or other.
20 million illegals carrying God knows what wandering around, and this guy makes the news...
If I was a police officer I wouldn’t approach him to make the arrest, I’d use a freakin’ tranquilizer gun from a hundred yards out and call the CDC.
The flattest land I ever saw is east of Little Rock on I-40. It goes all the way to Memphis with one small break for Crawlys Ridge. They call it riceland or sometimes the delta.
As long as his name wasn’t Charles Campion, I think we’ll all be fine.
I’ve been thru there.......I’m from FL. It’s hills to me.......
You’d think they would post a picture of this guy so that people could steer clear of him.
Not a critic, just a diner.........or cook........
***This is Arkansas. It’s ALL hills!.......***
Half hills (the NW part Republican) and half flat delta ( the other party).
Not west of Memphis. I drove across the state a few weeks back. There were some real nice looking(and HUGE)cornfields there close to Memphis. And what looked to be rice paddies too. Countryside was flat as a pancake through them parts anyways.
Even your “flat” part is way above sea level........
This too shall pass.
Nurse Ratched is NOT happy.
Looks a might younger than 50. The rest of the description doesn’t seem to fit either. Hmmmmmm......
Sounds more like a meth addict.........
....or flaming something or other.
[Reads like a thesaurus.]
TG - who has the Arkansas ping list?
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SOS
Shoot on sight
I saw this earlier on Drudge but I’m not good at posting
so I didn’t try.
The thing is lhis guy has been running loose for 9 days.
How many others has he infected , or is he laying dead
somewhere?
Excellent point!
I have read all the clauses of the Immigration Bill that failed and not one of them addressed health concerns.
To come to the US legally you must have a physical exam.
Round up every skinny guy in Arkansas and load them into boxcars. Ship them off for reeducation at camps. But first, showers and delousing.
It took our local media 10 days to start reporting this? Unbelievable!! No telling where all this freak has been and who all he has come in contact with by now.
I saw this earlier on Drudge but I’m not good at posting
so I didn’t try.
The thing is this guy has been running loose for 9 days.
How many others has he infected , or is he laying dead
somewhere?
Thanks. That is the wrong picture. I thought this was from the original TB case. I’ll ask the mods to remove that post.
LOL
Anyone have the Arkansas ping list?
You've never been to Northern Saudi Arabia then ..... imagine being an ant standing in a flat sand ashtray ....
Publication:Arkansas Democrat-Gazette; Date:Jul 11, 2007; Section:Front Section; Page Number:1
LR man on lam from TB lockup
Official says he’s likely contagious
BY NELL SMITH AND AMY UPSHAW ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
A Little Rock man who had been placed under medical isolation while state health officials determined whether he had contagious tuberculosis escaped from a hospital 10 days ago and has yet to be found, records obtained Tuesday show.
Franklin Greenwood, 50, broke a window in his thirdfloor hospital room at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and likely walked across a catwalk around the back of the building to make his escape.
He had been under a medical isolation order issued June 29 by the Health Division of the Department of Health and Human Services. (The division has since separated and become the Health Department.)
In a draft affidavit, Dr. Iram Bakhtawar, the state TB control officer, wrote that her agency considers Greenwood “to have an active case of tuberculosis in an active state and in a communicable form.”
Greenwood had previously failed to complete TB treatment, and recent chest X-rays show his disease had progressed, the affidavit states. In an interview Tuesday evening, Dr. Joe Bates, the Health Department’s deputy health officer, said health officials were unable to conduct all necessary tests before Greenwood left the hospital.
Asked if Greenwood is a threat to the public, Bates said, “We’d like to have more information than we have, but I think it’s highly probable, highly, highly probable that he’s infectious to others.”
“If he would take the treatment, he would become rapidly noninfectious,” Bates said.
Calls to Greenwood’s mother and a telephone number listed as his on police reports went unanswered Tuesday. A man answering a third number listed as Greenwood’s said that Greenwood had been using his telephone number and address for a few years but that he did not live there and he did not know him.
TB infections are rare but not unheard of. There were 102 cases of TB in Arkansas in 2006, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or 3.6 cases per 100,000 population.
TB is a respiratory disease caused by a bacteria spread through the air. If not treated, TB can be fatal. TB infections can be latent or active. Infected people with latent TB have no symptoms and are not contagious. People with active TB may be contagious, and symptoms may include a bad cough and chest pains. Active TB can destroy tissue and cause a hole in an infected person’s lung.
The Health Department was alerted on June 29 about Greenwood by a Little Rock judge who was releasing him after a hearing on traffic violations. Greenwood, sitting in a police car outside the court, was coughing up blood and had told police officers he had TB.
Little Rock District Judge Vic Fleming released Greenwood into the Health Department’s custody, and he was transported to UAMS.
STATE ISOLATION ORDER
Arkansas Code Ann. 20-15-703 allows a health officer to immediately detain a patient suspected of active TB for involuntary testing. This the first time in at least 10 years the Health Department has issued such an isolation order.
“Medical detention and treatment shall continue until you are no longer a risk to the public,” the order states.
But on July 1, staff members outside Greenwood’s room heard noises that sounded like him “throwing things.” When UAMS security officers arrived, they found him in bed and nothing disturbed. Called back about a half-hour later, officers discovered he had escaped through a broken window behind an air purifying unit.
UAMS spokesman Leslie Taylor said the hospital had used a “sitter” — an employee tasked with sitting outside Greenwood’s room — but did not use police officers.
“He wasn’t in our custody. DHHS had put him here under a medical hold, but it wasn’t anything that we had officers there to keep him there,” she said.
Taylor said that although he was under a medical order, it was the Health Department’s job to keep him from fleeing.
“We didn’t have any right to restrain him,” she said. “When it was discovered that he had left, everyone was notified.”
UAMS notified state police that Greenwood had escaped from University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences hospital on July 2 — a day after hospital records show Greenwood kicked out a window and ran from the facility, state police spokesman Bill Sadler said.
Troopers were asked to be on the lookout for Greenwood and warned to take precautions if they found him.
He is described as a thin white man with a ruddy complexion, a ragged appearance and shoulder-length hair. He stands 5 feet 10 inches and weighs about 150 pounds.
Spokesmen for Little Rock police and the Pulaski County sheriff’s office say they were never alerted to the escape nor were they asked to be on the lookout for Greenwood. A North Little Rock police spokesman did not return a message left on his cell phone Tuesday.
Asked if there is a policy for alerting the public about someone on the loose with a contagious disease, Health Department officials pointed to the uniqueness of this situation.
“It’s very unusual that we would have an active TB patient that would be anything other than compliant,” said Rick Hogan, an attorney with the Health Department.
The Health Department also noted the balance they must strike between a patient’s medical privacy and public concern.
“If we had a single case of bird flu, we’d probably isolate that patient,” Bates said. “We probably wouldn’t broadcast it to the community.”
PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUE It’s unclear how Greenwood initially attracted authorities’ attention. What is known for sure is that on the morning of June 29, he came into contact with a Little Rock narcotics detective who realized that Greenwood had an outstanding warrant for failing to appear in court for an old traffic ticket, said Little Rock Police Department Sgt. Terry Hastings.
That same morning, officers drove Greenwood to Little Rock District Court so he could appear before Judge Fleming on that charge. Because of his condition, officers left Greenwood in a police car in the court’s parking garage, according to court records for that day.
Greenwood had been given the ticket in 2004 for crossing a median in his car. His public defender along with a prosecutor asked Fleming to sentence the ailing man to time served and release him, which Fleming said he did.
However, Fleming worried about Greenwood’s condition and what responsibility he had in protecting the public.
“The issue arose of how does a judge release a defendant who allegedly has tuberculosis?” he said in an interview Monday afternoon.
Fleming said he didn’t know the answer, and spoke with a Health Department employee.
The situation was “not something I have encountered before,” Fleming explained.
He was referred to regulations that allow a state health officer to detain someone with contagious TB, Fleming said.
He was told the Health Department already had a file on Greenwood that was about a month old, Fleming said.
Bates said the Health Department was treating Greenwood for TB in August and September 2006, but “lost track of him.”
“We were pleased with his progress,” Bates said. “I don’t know what caused him to abscond.”
Then on June 10, Pulaski County deputies arrested Greenwood at a house on Heifner Lane on an outstanding failure-to-appear warrant, according to an incident report. When deputies arrived at the house, they found Greenwood hiding in a houseboat on the property.
Deputies handcuffed Greenwood and then put masks on because they knew from previous encounters that he was “known to have TB and Hep [hepatitis] C.”
The same day, someone with the sheriff’s office called the Health Department to alert them to the possibility that Greenwood had TB, said John Rehrauer, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office.
“They said ‘hold him,’” Rehrauer said of state health officials. “We can’t hold him for nothing. They informed us they were going to try to get with their lawyers and do something.”
He said he did not know what that “something” might be.
Chest X-rays taken during that time indicated that his TB was worsening, Bates said, but on June 15, Greenwood was released on $10,000 bond.
Bates said he didn’t know what steps Health Department officials took to keep him compliant with treatment. The employees involved were unavailable late Tuesday evening.
No one from the Health Department has talked with the sheriff’s office about Greenwood since then, Rehrauer said.
Arkansas Code Ann. 20-15-704 allows the state health officer to petition the court to order a patient with contagious TB to a state-owned hospital if the patient is a danger to others and will not voluntarily seek medical treatment. The patient must be notified at least seven days before a hearing. Health Department officials said they plan to file a petition for isolation today.
Bates said that if Greenwood is captured, he will likely be taken back to UAMS. Bates said UAMS took reasonable measures to monitor Greenwood in an extraordinary circumstance and he feels confident that the hospital can handle him.
Asked if a law enforcement officer would be used to guard the patient, Hogan said, “It’s in their facility, so we’re going to work with them.”
Arkansas Ping!
And it only took 10 days for the medical world and law enforcement to release this info to the public...10 days for this jerk to infect how many people?
Another example of how HIPA laws are stupid. They probably had to get a judge to allow the release of the guy’s name and photo.
This was finally reported on Fox News Channel 16 last night. Probably the other Little Rock stations too. 10 days. It took them 10 days before reporting this. The governor or someone should call for hearings on this to expose this information break down and find out why it took 10 days to release any info about this guy. Utterly pathetic. A prime example of why one shouldn’t count on the governmental agencies to take care of you. They botched this big time.
Should be charges brought against him and the people responsible for rounding him up if anyone becomes infected through contact.
My opinion - heads should fly. Folks are NOT doing their job.
Eastern North Dakota rates for flat, too. The Red River Valley is an illusion, it is flatter than the usual curvature of the Earth there (old lake bed).
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