Do you think people should be jailed for up to a year for missing a shot? Is this a viable use of your tax dollars? Should Public Health Services be arresting people?
STOCKTON (CBS13) A Stockton man was arrested on Tuesday after not making himself available for tuberculosis treatment, according to the San Joaquin County District Attorneys Office.
Armando Rodriquez, 34, was arrested and booked in the San Joaquin County Jail in French Camp for violating TB Control Orders of County Public Health Officer Dr. Karen Furst. The arrest was made by Stockton Police at the request of Public Health Services and the San Joaquin County District Attorneys Office.
San Joaquin County has over time arrested and jailed a number of patients and on occasion non-patients for failure to comply with written TB Control Orders of the county health officer. Doing so is a misdemeanor and can be punished by up to one year in the county jail and two years probation.
This case is not believed to have created an issue of exposure as there is no allegation that treatment was lost for a significant period of time, according to the District Attorneys Office.
Rodriguez reportedly first broke an appointment to be home on May 2 and failed to resolve his matter with the Public Health Services by phone calls and attempts to find him through May 9. A warrant was signed on Monday and Stockton Police arrested him Tuesday.
The county has had more than 30 tuberculosis prosecutions since 1984, prosecutor Stephen Taylor said. It also has prosecuted a woman accused of knowingly giving syphilis to her sex partners and refusing treatment.
Taylor said San Joaquin County is more aggressive than other jurisdictions in prosecuting tuberculosis patients to get them to take their medication.