Clock is ticking on Tacoma woman refusing to comply with TB treatment. Is jail next?

TACOMA – A Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department official on Tuesday said the department was “closing in on our last option” for a Tacoma tuberculosis patient refusing treatment and isolating at home.

That option would be jail.

Nigel Turner is division director of Communicable Disease Control for TPCHD. In an update published by TPCHD, Turner wrote, “We have worked with family and community members for more than a year to do everything we can to persuade this woman to take her medication to protect herself and our community.

“After 15 court hearings, we are closing in on our last option.”

Turner wrote the department is “constantly balancing risk to the public and the civil liberties of the patient. We are always hopeful a patient will choose to comply voluntarily. Seeking to enforce a court order through a civil arrest warrant is always our last resort.”

He added that this is a “rare instance where the patient has refused to take the life-saving medication she needs or remain in isolation.”

The health department first notified the public of the case at the end of January.

In that announcement, it said the department was “monitoring” a patient who had refused medication, without any details of how long.

On Feb. 3, the News Tribune cited court proceedings dating back to January 2022. Turner told the News Tribune at that time that the department had “to balance the protection of personal health information with protecting the community as well.”

He added the department would “make sure no stone is unturned” in persuading the woman to comply.

On Friday, Pierce County Superior Court Judge Philip Sorensen issued an order of contempt and authorized arrest of the woman for continuing noncompliance.

A hearing Thursday will further determine compliance and if the arrest warrant will be served anytime on or after Friday.

Turner on Tuesday wrote, “If the woman complies before March 3, we may ask the court to lift the arrest warrant.”

Otherwise, he noted, the arrest warrant calls for the woman to be “taken to a specially designated facility at the Pierce County Jail for isolation, testing and treatment.”

The order calls for involuntary detention of the woman, for a period “not to exceed 45 days to undergo testing and treatment for active tuberculosis and to continue such treatment until medical tests conclusively establish that she no longer presents a threat to the public health, safety, and welfare, whereupon respondent shall immediately be released from detention.”

Sarah Tofflemire, the lawyer representing the patient, has not responded to requests for comment in the case, noting previously to The News Tribune that it was “both a confidential case and an ongoing matter.”

The News Tribune has filed a records request with the department to determine how much TPCHD has spent on legal fees in the case.

On Monday, The News Tribune was notified by the department via email that release of those records has been delayed. The department cited a need for “additional time to respond due to legal review or the invoice for possible attorney-client privilege.”