What's not clear from the couple different articles I've read about this story is whether he was really given a fair shake, first by his doctor and then was he really given due process? Based on what I've read, there's a good case that he wasn't.

It's apparent that he didn't really understand what he had or how it is spread. He even said so himself. Although he's an adult, he grew up in Russia and how do we know what he understands about biology and disease? Maybe he only got through junior high--we just don't know. Plenty of Americans are clueless about disease and health issues.

Although a doctor asked him to wear a mask, was that a quick, not-so-insistent remark made by the doctor during a quick exam in some busy ER? I don't know, but I've been to plenty of doctor's visits which were hurried, directions were not necessarily clear or sounded like suggestions rather than instructions, etc. If that's the case, then I can understand how any young adult would shrug off wearing a mask in public if it didn't seem that important and would "cramp his style". Was there any language problem? Again, maybe he didn't really understand what the doctor was saying and no one really followed up to make sure he understood.

Then his due process--did he speak to anyone before being hauled off to his "cell"? I'm sure the law doesn't require it so in that sense, it was "legal," but for decency's sake, did anyone give him a final chance before locking him up? The articles I've read say that the health officials got a court order to detain him, but nowhere do I find a mention that, for example, he was hauled before a judge and asked if he would wear a mask or face detention instead. From this guy's comments now, it sounds like he would've if he had only been educated properly on his condition and the importance of taking steps to minimize the threat to others in the first place.

His detention conditions sound subpar, too. There's no good medical reason why his TV, phone, computer, etc. need to be taken away. There's also no medical reason why he can't be allowed to take showers. Even hardened criminals in solitary confinement at "supermax" prisons get to take showers and be let outside periodically. Although TB is airborne, it's not terribly contagious. Generally accepted TB isolation guidelines permit patients to leave their isolation wards temporarily if they take simple precautions like wear a mask.

It seems to me that some of the rather harsh comments here stem from ignorance about the particular characteristics of TB. A person with the flu who goes to work, rides the bus, etc. is more likely to directly or indirectly lead to the death of someone from their flu than this guy is of killing someone from his TB. Flu is highly transmissible, people die from it, and there's no cure for it either, so by the "logic" that some people seem to be using, people with the flu who don't cover their mouths when they sneeze, touch objects after touching their mouth/nose, etc. should also be locked up as menaces to society. And if you've ever willfully and knowingly done these things, then you're also a criminal and should be charged with attempted murder, right?

And getting infected with TB is not a death sentence. Heck, a third of the people on the planet right now are infected with TB and most will never develop active TB disease even if left untreated, so we're not talking about the same situation as some guy with AIDS running around injecting people with his own infected blood. I'm not saying involuntary detentions aren't necessary. I'm just saying that the analogy/disease model that some people seem to have is not really applicable.

Also, think about it--the guy has a wife and children, and they just came from Russia the year before. What kind of job did he have? Does he even have health insurance? A lot of jobs don't offer health insurance or its very expensive compared to what he makes. Or if he gets laid off or is too sick to work, then his insurance also disappears. There are a lot of "big picture" questions behind this story, too, that are important and affect all of us. It's easy to demonize this one guy and ignore the other conditions that contributed to getting him where he is.