About a week and a half ago, we learned that a freelance cameraman working with NBC’s health reporting team in Liberia had contracted Ebola. Ashoko Mukpo, 33, is an American who worked with Dr. Nancy Snyderman, NBC’s chief medical correspondent, for about three days to film the devastating effects of the Ebola epidemic. When the news came out that Mukpo had contracted the virus, Snyderman said that “my suspicion is he was infected before we met him.” She also pledged to quarantine herself for 21 days, the virus’ maximum incubation period, to ensure that she did not come down with symptoms. (Ebola is only transmittable when a person is symptomatic.) The president of NBC News also promised that Snyderman and the team that accompanied her to Liberia “will not come to work, and they will stay at home taking their temperatures twice daily and staying in touch with the local health authorities for the remainder of the recommended 21-day period.” The quarantine was considered voluntary in that they were deemed low risk to contract the virus.
Snyderman and her team were busted violating their self-imposed quarantine when they were seen picking up takeout late last week in New Jersey. Now their quarantine has become mandatory until October 22 and Snyderman has issued a statement which is said to be an apology. It sounds more like one of those “sorry if you were offended” apologies.
As TMZ reported … Snyderman and 2 members of her crew — all under quarantine — made a food run to Peasant Grill near Princeton University. Sources say New Jersey health officials investigated and concluded based on witness accounts that Snyderman was in the car while a crew member got the grub.
Williams just read Snyderman’s statement on “NBC Nightly News,” in which she says, “While under voluntary quarantine guidelines, which called for our team to avoid public contact for 21 days, members of our group violated those guidelines and understand that our quarantine is now mandatory until 21 days have passed. We remain healthy and our temperatures are normal. As a health professional I know that we have no symptoms and pose no risk to the public, but I am deeply sorry for the concerns this episode caused.
“We are thrilled that Ashoka is getting better and our thoughts continue to be with the thousands affected by Ebola whose stories we all went to cover.”
I’m concerned with how blase this statement is. It sounds like she’s saying “no biggie, but we understand why you’re worried.” Is that true, is this no big deal, or is it a huge deal when our only chance of beating this virus is to track down the people who might be exposed and contain them? It seems like a big deal to me and like this doctor and her crew are not taking this seriously. How could NBC vet and approve this statement? It reads as incredibly rude.
Arrogant idiot. Do as I say and not as I do,pretty much sums up Nancy.
Was just about to say this exactly.
Arrogant and very “I’m special and I know best therefore what would be mandatory for others is optional for me.”
Ugh GROSS NEGLIGENCE!!!
Agree, she needs to go.
Exactly. It’s incredibly stupid of her to break the quarantine – regardless of whether or not it was mandatory or voluntary. I would have hoped that a doctor would know better, especially in a situation like this. SMDH.
I live where this happened, and I can tell you that it was a VERY BIG DEAL in town.
people were p*ssed, and rightly so. I understand the risks of any of them having ebola are low, and the risk of transmittal is (allegedly) low, but inciting public panic is not a good idea.
the local authorities are not stationed outside her home, but apparently have “increased patrol” of her neighborhood.
The risks may be low, but if she is wrong the consequences are 90% chance of death. As Jen Aniston would say: Not cool, lady, not cool. And, If someone ends up with Ebola because she needed a chicken salad?
Wow. What an utter fail. Could be the end of her career, I hope. Was is worth it, Nancy?
Bring her up to the medical board. This is gross negligence. Selfish asshole.
The sheriff’s office should not have to waste time sending deputies to drive by her home to ensure that she stays put. What stuns me is how this is being handled. Why was the sheriff’s deputy who was tested for Ebola in the apartment for more than 30 minutes without protection? His car and uniform were quarantined but not him. The family of the original patient who died is upset that he was not given blood of a survivor like other people were. The fact is his blood did not match the blood of the doctor who survived Ebola. No one was withholding treatment from this man but yet the family is claiming that he was not given the best treatment available. Unfortunately, one poor nurse is now paying the price for taking care of him. God bless her.
I just found out where this happened. One of our favorite places to eat! No one is mentioning the fact that this awesome family run place is most likely going to close now. No one is going to want to eat at Ebola Central.
@MoxyLady007
That was my first thought, too. That restaurant is probably going to lose a lot of business, thanks to this irresponsible and arrogant woman.
Let’s hope that breaking quarantine won’t lead to even worse consequences.
And the @hole part of it is that she’s all like, “I’m perfectly healthy” but she knows as well as anyone that she may pose no symptoms today and start running a fever tomorrow. SMH
Exactly, and she didn’t apologize for herself breaking quarantine- it was “a member of the team” Common now.
Exactly. It’s insufferable people like her that will be the downfall of mankind, maybe sooner than later in this case. 🙁
I read it more as “I’m sorry to everyone who didn’t realize I’m smarter than the people who told me to stay put.” Still arrogant.
Exactly.
Agreed.
If it wasn’t to be taken seriously, Nancy, violating it would not have resulted in a mandatory enforcement.
Entitled bitch. Being blasé is how it spread in Texas, friends. Get real and take it seriously.
I feel like I need more information as to why their quarantine was “Voluntary”. Was it her employer that decided to enact the quarantine as a precaution and determine it only needed to be “voluntary”, or was it the CDC?
If it was the CDC, and it was indeed voluntary, I don’t see how or why someone would be punished for violating something that was to be done with free will. If “voluntary” was used as a polite and pretty way to say “mandatory”, then I think the CDC or whomever issued the quarantine should be at fault for not being more clear and direct in their intentions.
I really hope that quarantines at the CDC aren’t like recalls at the FDA. There is no such thing as a “mandatory recall”, except for infant formula. With all other food, even if they know it will cause illness and harm, it can only be a “voluntary” recall.
I agree. It’s confusing. Maybe if it were clearer, arrogant doctors wouldn’t have been able to take advantage.
Agreed, it needs to be clearer.
Remember when Duncan’s family were first quarantined? The CDC said they could go out and buy food. There was a bit of an outcry, and food deliveries were organised instead. They were only slapped with a mandatory quarantine after some of the kids went to school.
Here in Oz, returning aid workers place themselves in what they’re calling “home quarantine”. They test their temperature twice daily, don’t go to work, and avoid large gatherings, but they ARE allowed out. There was a bit of a kerfuffle over a returned nurse who spiked a fever, with one politician freaking out over the fact she’d gone out grocery shopping while “under quarantine”. Health officials shot him down, saying she’d followed protocols to the letter.
Both approaches (strict quarantine and “limit your exposure” quasi-quarantine) have pros and cons. Really, either is fine, but everyone – officials, public and the person themselves – needs to be on the same page.
Ooh, this is interesting. The CDC has the power to enforce quarantine of people entering the US, or moving between states …. but there doesn’t seem to be anything giving them power over someone who’s just hanging out within the one state. (http://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/aboutlawsregulationsquarantineisolation.html)
That would explain why it’s not as clear as we’d like. The CDC can’t issue some kind of blanket rule, each case is going to depend on individual state laws, which can differ dramatically.
Don’t need to pile on but will anyway. +1
Not one bit sorry. She doesn’t have to follow anyone else’s directives – she’s smarter than they are. She thinks.
Awful. Just awful.
How arrogant is she do behave like that. I am really speechless .
Wow.
I read her statement earlier. She clearly believes the rules don’t apply to her.
She’s a doctor. She should be an example to other people of how to handle yourself in a situation like this. There is already so much fear and idiocy going around about Ebola, and she is now contributing to it. She should have just stayed inside and used this as an opportunity to talk to people about the disease. Instead, she now becomes another talking point in the hysteria.
She’s also lucky in that she had the luxury to do so – she wouldn’t lose her job by staying home, like many people would. She’s not going to get evicted if she misses a paycheck. She could probably even do her job from home if she wanted. There was no reason for to have to leave.
All excellent points!:)
Agree 100%.
Yeah, I came here to say exactly this. It doesn’t matter that she doesn’t think she poses a risk to the community. As a doctor she needs to set an example to others and its irresponsible to not take that seriously. I can’t believe she wouldn’t understand that.
She understood it. To lead by example. She just didn’t care. That bisk or chowder she ordered was said to be really good.
I’m in the medical field and find some of the protocols overkill. Some of them destroy my skin and some make me physically uncomfortable. I still do them. To not do them is arrogance and shows that I feel fine cutting corners. And as someone that works with people in critical situations cutting corners and arrogance are not qualities to have.
I agree. If we can’t trust a highly-educated, nationally known medical professional to maintain a quarantine, how can we trust that ordinary folks won’t ignore sensible quarantine precautions, much less panic and leave the area, potentially taking disease with them?
I think what annoyed me the most about her statement was how condescending she came across. It just seemed like she was saying ‘I know that you poor, uneducated people are freaking out about Ebola risks, but I know that I am fine because I am a doctor. I still shouldn’t have scared you like that, though. Whoops.’
The death rate has just been raised to 70%. That’s hardly “idiocy”.
Agreed. The entitlement this woman displayed is grotesque.
It’s this kind of attitude that allows things like Ebola to spread. People don’t take it seriously. I mean, is it so hard to quarantine themselves for 21 days? I mean, yeah, chances are she probably isn’t infected and yeah, it’s only transmittable when there are symptoms, but is it worth the risk? If you can’t even trust someone who is a doctor and NBC’s “Chief Medical Correspondent” then how can you expect other people with less knowledge and understanding to take the precautions they should? They are lucky there weren’t taken from their homes and put in an isolated medical facility, and this is what they do? Could she be more arrogant? She worked with someone who has been positively diagnosed with Ebola? I think she could at least do the 21 day quarantine and get a friend to drop food off on the porch if need be!
Exactly. How effin’ hard is it to take 21 days to ensure you aren’t spreading a deadly disease, even if you honestly believe you aren’t a risk? Greater good people. Jeez.
Very arrogant statement, and very poor decision making by a “medical professional”. If you know there’s even the slightest risk, obey the quarantine rules. It’s the people who think it’s not a big deal that end up spreading stuff around.
and if she were some “no body” her ass would be tossed in jail for posing a threat to public health…what an arrogant, self-righteous piece of crap…fine her and she should lose her job
Exactly. Make her an example of what happens if you knowingly put others in risk. If I contracted Ebola through Mrs. Snyderman, I would sue her personally and NBC for not enforcing her quarantine.
NBC should fire her.
Agreed!!!!!!
Totally in agreement – a ‘regular’ person would have faced extremely serious repercussions if they had done this.
Snyderman should lose her job for being an arrogant, hypocritical menace to public safety. Unbelievable.
Would a regular person be thrown in jail for violating a “voluntary” quarantine, though?
I wish I knew more about the Voluntary vs. Mandatory quarantines, and who issues them. If it was the CDC, and it was indeed voluntary, I don’t see how or why someone would be punished for violating something that was to be done with free will. If “voluntary” was used as a polite and pretty way to say “mandatory”, then I think the CDC or whomever issued the quarantine should be at fault for not being more clear and direct in their intentions.
Exactly. I don’t understand the concept of “voluntary” quarantine. To me that would mean I could go outside if I chose. On the other hand, why would you go out to pick up takeout food and sit in the back seat? I dare say there is delivery in that part of the world or someone who had not been exposed to a deadly infectious disease who could have made the food run.
The “I feel fine, I don’t need treatment/quarantine!” attitude is exactly why diseases like this spread and we have growing antibiotic resistance – a HUGE problem – from people taking incomplete courses of meds.
I’m sure she wasn’t risking the public’s health, but as a high-profile doc, and whether she felt well or not, she should lead by example.
I’m NOT sure she doesn’t pose a risk.
I won’t be sure until she clears 21 days.
That’s why quarantines are necessary.
I think she meant that WHEN she left the house she didn’t pose a risk since she was asymptomatic at THAT time. Which is true… not sure why everyone is freaking out and saying she should have her license revoked. It was a voluntary quarantine.
I come from a family of doctors and nurses, so I mean no disrespect to the medical community. Unfortunately we can have all the protocols in place that we want, but human error is what accounts for a huge amount of spreading of disease. If doctors are too arrogant to follow the rules that they believe should be in place for everyone else, they are putting us all at risk and setting a poor example. Even if these individuals are healthy and pose no threat to the community as Dr. Snyderman claims, she should be intelligent enough to realize that people are already worried and stories like this heighten concerns among the public. You couldn’t follow protocol for 21 days? Arrogant, unnecessary, unprofessional.
Exactly this.
+a million
Agreed. And kudos to the people who reported her.
Yes, Anon, exactly. And she needs to be gone from NBC because she has lost all credibility and become part of the problem – not a small problem, either – more like a pandemic still in its infancy, if everyone at risk follows her example and decides they are the exceptions to the rules set down for public safety.
She used to work in San Francisco, where I live, and she was a smug, self-righteous jack ass even back then. I can’t imagine what happened to her ego after she went national. Apparently nothing good.
“Smug, self-righteous jackass” has always been my impression of her, thanks for confirming. And her actions around this — and lame non-apology — confirm it, too.
IDK On one hand Dr. Nancy and her brand of angry no nonsense old lady calling out suburbia Moms is My Jam
AND drs uniformly while worried about ebola wont entertain the bullshit fear mongering reports or interviews (see any interview lately with the drs they invite to Fox News to ask if we need to seal Africa and “im a mom scared for my precious white american children” and basically the stone cold “dont be an idiot” faces they get from their guests) They maintain Ebola is NOT highly contagious but IT IS highly infectious (look it up!)
On the other hand tho it is a little blase the way she is like “I know what Im doing-chill”
I agree.
She shouldn’t have violated her quarentine, it was very selfish of her, but… she’s a medical professional and I’m not. There is nothing more frustrating than having someone who has absolutely no expertise in your profession telling you how to do it. So while I definitely DO NOT defend her for violating the quarentine, I can understand where the “no big deal, I know what I’m doing, I studied this crap and you did not” answer came from. I’ve been like that to other people. Not cool but I’m in no position to judge her.
The quarantine was NOT self-imposed. According to the law in her area, a person can be quarantined for 30 days behind bars. After 30 days, the infected person can then stand before a judge and argue why the quarantine should be lifted. This is not a case of Mrs. Snyderman making medical decisions based on her professional opinion. This is a case of following public policy and setting a standard for responsible behavior.
And that’s why I don’t defend her violation of the quarantine, specially since it was completely unnecessary (fast food? really?)
But I can imagine it must be frustrating for her to hear all of these people being all “NOW MY POOR CHILDREN WILL DIE OF EBOLA AND IT’S ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!!!” (and I’m sadly not exaggerating – people act like that) when the risk of infection was very low and she knows that better than the common citizen.
Isn’t a quarantine recommendation made by WHO and CDC and similar institutions? So basicly it’s recommended by medical professionals, not the general public. “How to do it” was told by people who do know what they’re talking about, probably more than her (WHO).
“The quarantine was NOT self-imposed”
But….it was called a “voluntary” quarantine. Voluntary means acting of one’s own free will. I am confused as to why she didn’t have a mandatory quarantine.
Actually, it turns out that public health officials *have* been lying to the public, presumably in order to ‘prevent hysteria’. Unlike HIV for example, which has never had an airborne transmission, Ebola can be spread through the air. This fact has been known since the mid-90’s:
“Lethal experimental infections of rhesus monkeys by aerosolized Ebola virus.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7547435
There is a lot that is still unknown about how contagious Ebola is, as evidenced by that poor nurse in Texas who did everything she was told and got infected anyways.
We are in a potentially dangerous situation in this country right now: the disease has not been contained, and shockingly the folks at CDC appear to be in over their heads. Nancy Snyderman knows all of this…she should have kept herself at home.
That link is about a highly controlled experiment and environment. You would have to completely replicate those conditions, in an uncontrolled environment containing human beings and still might not get the same result.
Ebola is NOT airborne.
The nurse in Dallas broke protocol, all the other people treating #Ebola patients in other parts of the country did not become infected. Some where in the chain of events there was a breach and she became infected.
And no, I am not blaming the victim, shit happens.
I keep wondering if the nurse was exposed during the period between the second admittance to the hospital and the return of the test results. It’s not an instant test read, and although Duncan was isolated, according to a recap I read yesterday they were not in full containment gear, but caps and gowns until the test came back positive. I wonder if an hour or two without the full suit treatment was enough to infect her… if she was the primary nurse on shift at that time.
@allheavens
The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) just released the following statement: ” We believe there is scientific and epidemiologic evidence that Ebola virus has the potential to be transmitted via infectious aerosol particles both near and at a distance from infected patients, which means that healthcare workers should be wearing respirators, not facemasks.”
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2014/09/commentary-health-workers-need-optimal-respiratory-protection-ebola
Not that Im taking her side, but If there was a real risk, wouldn’t it have been a mandatory quarantine to begin with?
A mandatory quarantine, from my understanding, happens when it is certain you were exposed while the known Ebola patient was showing symptoms. For example, the nurse in Dallas who was infected got it from Thomas Duncan when he was very ill. So they know that he was contagious at the time. These people had contact with the infected cameraman sometime BEFORE he started to manifest his syptoms. Thus, the chances he passed it along are very, very low (but not impossible).
And it was said it’s possible the nurse failed to follow full protocol. Somewhere down the line they skipped/missed something.
Voluntary quarantines are only voluntary until people break quarantine, at which point the quarantine becomes mandatory.
The Health Department then gets a court order and the police put a cop in front of your house.
That “members of our team” is quite telling…..where is I went against my company request keep myself and my team quarantined for 21 days……what a bitch……so glad she is freaking all knowing and part of The Q Continuum ….
Totes agree and bonus points for Next Generation reference.
She’s on with Brian Williams all the time. She is smug and arrogant. People wonder how these illnesses go global, it’s in part because of people like her who think they’re one ring up on the ladder than the rest of us. Shame on her…bitch.
Yes! Quarantines are for the “little people” not the all-knowing TV doctors.
Huh? Diseases spread because of highly educated people who think they’re above the regular people? That’s the dumbest thing I’ve read so far. If anything it’s the uneducated people who are more likely to cause disease to spread. If there was any real risk of her actually spreading ebola, I highly doubt she would have left quarantine. This is more an issue of inciting national panic than spreading ebola. People are overreacting.
In my experience doctors make the worst patients… They know better than anyone else.
Why didn’t she just get delivery? Easy as that.
That’s what I was wondering too.
I’ve lost all respect for her. Hope the soup was worth it!
No kidding. In her statement, she just says “members of our team” instead of admitting that she herself went out to go get soup instead of having it delivered to her.
Why go herself, even if she stayed in the car? In order to get it freshly hot? Because she’s such a foodie she can’t stand reheated soup? Just very selfish.
“As a health professional I know that we have no symptoms and pose no risk to the public”
I don’t understand this statement. Is she saying that any ‘health professional’ should be allowed to guess and leave quarantine? How does she know she and her cohorts won’t develop any symptoms and is she the one checking up on her cohorts twice daily? I doubt it. And this statement says that quarantine isn’t necessary and that it should be broken anytime ‘health professionasl’ guesses they’re safe. Way to set an example, Snyderman!
What a jerk. She obviously thinks she is above the rules. Even if she was not mandated to be quarantined, she should have taken the extra precautions and followed the rules. There are still so many questions about this illness…officials still aren’t quite sure of how the nurse in Dallas acquired Ebola.
TPTB at NBC probably would have been happier with a wave of publicity from stories of “medical correspondent and staff being quarantined” rather than stories of her lackadaisical attitude. I know that no one wants their employees to be faced with a possible illness, but, in the cold world of TV news, ratings are ratings.
Also, I bet she is the type that says, “Don’t you know who I am?”
That is just disgusting to have such a low regard for the welfare of others. Someone who took an oath to do her harm should have her license to practice medicine suspended at the very least.
Agree, she should be fired and her license suspended.
Do you hear how ridiculous you sound? She was asymptomatic and hence could not spread the disease. In her mind, she wasn’t doing harm to anyone because she is educated enough to know she wasn’t contagious She shouldn’t have violated her VOLUNTARY quarantine, but she also shouldn’t lose her job or license. She has incited panic, which is not good, but this isn’t negligence. It’s just a poor choice. Doctors get fired for negligence.
Containment is key. Stay in effing quarantine.
On another note, I’d love a three-week staycation. I’m already so behind on my DVR.
Another one who thinks the rules are just for the “little people”. She should be fired and lose her license to practice.
This behavior is unbelievable – absolutely shocking! Everyone involved in this should be fired and stripped of their titles. Going for takeout !!! (OMG, I can hardly restrain myself from putting all caps). Low risk – who cares!! When you are talking about Ebola, you need to be taking NO RISK. Idiots.
There is a woman psychologist in my condo building who refuses to lease her dog. We live in a dense urban area. As she walks him she encounters people who are afraid of dogs and in her flight attendant/ psychologist voice says; ” Don’t worry, he’s friendly.” And allows the dog to get quite close to people. The stress she causes them does not concern her in the least.
Not the slightest bit of empathy for others.
Same here, this NBC Dr is just another narsasist , common as pig tracks!
Yes so true ! I can’t stand it when people don’t keep their dogs on leashes. Excuse me, but not everyone likes dogs and not everyone enjoys being sniffed and humped by dogs. The excuse is always “but he’s so friendly”. Have respect for the law and for other people. Some people have legitimate fear of dogs. What if someone decided to walk around with a snake and let it slither on you? Oh that’s ok my snake is friendly ! Jeez.
As a responsible dog owner…. Ugh. Animals cannot be predictable all the time. Even the best trained dog can have a moment where instincts override all the teaching, and be provoked by innocuous cues humans don’t even pick up on, such as eye contact or walking toward the dog. not to mention, not everybody likes dogs up in their personal space or may have allergies to them. and leashing your dog protects it from other dogs who may not be friendly.
most of the time, in my experience, the people who aren’t bothering to secure their dogs are quick to blame others when something bad does happen, because the dog is so nice they couldn’t have possibly done anything wrong. The person must have provoked it, according to them.
She needs to not be a doctor anymore!! She should lose her medical license over this, and maybe her job at NBC.
That’s overblown. I do think it would be wise for NBC to distance themselves from her though. Especially with this growing backlash.
@OrangeBlohan – I agree with you that she should lose her job. She set a terrible example as a public figure and imo, lost her credibility as a responsible ‘health professional’ adviser as a media representative.
This pisses me off so much! When NBC first read the statement, it sounded like random members of the crew were out and about, not Nancy herself! She needs to own up to it, make a real apology, and NBC needs to find a new medical correspondent.
Doesn’t the Hippocratic Oath include a pledge NOT to do anything that can harm a patient?
I guess she was gone the day all the other medical students made that oath.
I’m still wondering why it was necessary to have ANY correspondent in a disease hot zone in the first place.
When I saw her reporting, It screamed ‘bad idea’. Just a ratings ploy, I think.
@Kris – I agree. She can’t even admit to what she did in her ‘apology.’ All it sounds like is that she’s blaming other people for breaking quarantine and then justifying what she did by saying she knows better than CDC and Ebola experts.
She should be fired. People look to her, Sanjay Gupta and Dr. Oz for their medical information. This is a situation where she should her high profile as an example of what you should do if, god forbid, you’re exposed.
If they weren’t running fevers and had no symptoms then there was zero public health risk in the food run. ZERO.
It can take anywhere from two to 21 days from the time of exposure until you start seeing symptoms. Doctors still aren’t sure if you are infectious during that time. With a disease like this you take EVERY precaution and as a doctor, a famous doctor, you lead by example.
” Snyderman said that “my suspicion is he was infected before we met him.” She also pledged to quarantine herself for 21 days, the virus’ maximum incubation period, to ensure that she did not come down with symptoms. ”
So basically she GUESSED Mukpo wasn’t infectious during his time together with her & her co-workers and she GUESSED they weren’t infectious during her soup-run. And she GUESSED her quarantine wasn’t necessary.
Whether they have the virus or not, EVERYBODY ELSE’S health shouldn’t have been potentially risked and made light of just based on her guesses. She should have waited the 21 days for the sake of everybody else’s presence of mind even if it inconveniences her (fresh hot soup? really?). She should have cared enough about other people’s emotional state and should have set an example about how important it is to be responsible with this virus. It’s no joke and she should have taken this seriously and therefore shown the world it is a serious disease that needs full cooperation from everybody in society, especially by ‘health professionals’ like herself.
Another thing… SHE WAS CAUGHT by witnesses who saw her. She didn’t rat on herself to the CDC and express to them that her GUESSES should be valid enough to break the quarantine.
And ONLY WHEN SHE GOT CAUGHT did she apologize. That shows she really didn’t care about the quarantine. So who knows how many days she spent going to however many places during this time?
If she thought the quarantine wasn’t necessary, then why didn’t she have the guts to say so to the CDC instead of sneaking around until eyewitnesses caught her?
” And she GUESSED her quarantine wasn’t necessary. ”
But she was on VOLUNTARY quarantine. If the CDC thought she was a danger to those around her, she would have been under mandatory quarantine.
I really hope that the CDC isn’t leaving it up to individuals to determine whether they should quarantine themselves or not if they are at risk.
@Tiffany – Remember how she says her own diagnosis should be better than any quarantine because she’s a ‘health professional?’ That means she knew she wasn’t supposed to leave quarantine, voluntary or mandatory. Someone in the comments section said mandatory occurs when the CDC knows for sure there’s an Ebola diagnosis or when the person breaks the voluntary quarantine.
I think Snyderman knew she wasn’t supposed to leave voluntary quarantine and thus purposely did not notify the CDC that she was going to. And nobody would have found out if it weren’t for people who recognized who she was. I think she thought she could get away with it.
Here is the thing, though. If the CDC/Surgeon General thought she was truly a risk, she would have been under mandatory quarantine all along. While it is thoughtful for people to voluntarily quarantine themselves when they could potentially become ill, a “voluntary quarantine” is NOT necessarily an act of the CDC or any health organization. It is a suggestion, not an order. It would have been unnecessary for her to notify the CDC that she was leaving the house if the CDC never told her to quarantine herself to begin with.
The voluntary quarantine was a measure taken by NBC to reassure the public, as stated by NBC’s president.
If someone really does pose a threat with this disease, there should be no “voluntary” quarantines and only mandatory.
@Tiffany –
” While it is thoughtful for people to voluntarily quarantine themselves when they could potentially become ill, a “voluntary quarantine” is NOT necessarily an act of the CDC or any health organization.”
“The voluntary quarantine was a measure taken by NBC to reassure the public, as stated by NBC’s president.”
Here are some facts I found on a couple of news sites:
From: http://planetprinceton.com/2014/10/13/snyderman-sorry-for-ebola-quarantine-violation-episode-by-group-members/
“…she had violated the voluntary confinement agreement she and her crew made with the New Jersey Department of Health and the Princeton Health Department…”
&
From: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/14/nancy-snyderman-ebola-quarantine_n_5981154.html
“Upon their return to the United States, Snyderman and the rest of the crew told the CDC as well as state and local health officials that they would voluntarily remain in isolation for three weeks.”
The quarantine wasn’t created by just among NBC, her, and the crew. It was an agreement made with various government departments, in this case the CDC, the NJ Dept of Health, & Princeton Health Dept.
……………………………….
“It would have been unnecessary for her to notify the CDC that she was leaving the house if the CDC never told her to quarantine herself to begin with.”
Yes, she should have had to notify the CDC, the NJ Dept of Health, the Princeton Health Dept and whatever other govt departments she and her crew made an agreement with not to break the quarantine.
So she can’t just go about unilaterally deciding to null the quarantine agreement while those govt departments still think she’s keeping herself isolated from the public.
This is why she’s now under mandatory quarantine. Because she broke their trust in her, they now have ordered this so as to be able to punish her if she decides to break the quarantine again.
Mich
1. safety precautions are there for a reason.
2. To ease public fears you should show you’re following protocol.
3. You can’t know if you’re infected until the full time is up just to be sure.
4. You should lead by example.
Everyone else had to do this. Even a doctor that worked 2nd hand with those infected came back to his practice in the states. He finished his quarantine and was taking his temp twice daily and even if requested to. The other doctors in his practice were still uneasy being close to him. She couldn’t know if she was safe. And even if she did there’s so much fear out there. Her actions didn’t help at all.
I hate washing my hands with that terrible soap upon entering and exiting an exam room. I still do it because I have to. There’s logic behind it. It wasn’t her place to rewrite protocol.
@Mich
Thomas Duncan wasn’t displaying any obvious symptoms that I’ve read of when he left Liberia, when he got on a plane in Europe and then when he arrived at the Dallas airport. The symptoms got bad enough for him on his 5th day (iirc) in America when he finally decided to go to the hospital. Also, his handling of that Ebola victim was days before he left Liberia, four days I think.
So the symptoms don’t show up right away. That’s why the number of quarantine days is set at 21 and not just one day or one week.
How many days did Snyderman keep herself in voluntary quarantine? Nobody knows but her and her spouse because it was only when she was caught by outsiders was it revealed that she wasn’t isolating herself from others.
Yeah, we don’t actually know that. There’s a lot that’s still unknown about this particular strain of Ebola. The CDC has been seriously behind the curve on this outbreak, to the point where it’s embarrassing.
When there are uncertainties about just how contagious a potentially fatal disease is and when contagion can occur, you err on the side of caution – not on the side of going for a pizza run!
Snyderman should *lose her job* over this. What a selfish, arrogant jerk.
I don’t think she is sorry for violating quarantine.
She is only sorry for getting caught.
@rabbit I think you’re right. She didn’t have the cahones to tell the CDC she wasn’t going to follow quarantine and it took someone to recognize her out and about for CDC to find out what she was doing.
I’m just wondering why the food was not simply delivered by one assistant type person and left outside of a door or something for her or another assistant person to retrieve?
It is kind of crazy to me that people with such high salaries and who are obviously well educated, extremely respected within their profession, who can afford almost any resource us poor folks could imagine (assistants, cars with drivers, awesome health insurance, money for take out, etc) would willfully make such a simple and selfish error.
So many people swear by Dr. Nancy, too, that this kind of nonchalance when it comes to such a dangerous disease could potentially lead others to act accordingly when they may have been exposed as well . . . which is a scary thought!
I think she had the option to have food delivered to her but as what she said in her statement, she didn’t think quarantine was necessary because she judged herself to be unaffected. So she just left quarantine without telling anybody until she got caught.
People that think like she does are the ones spreading the disease. For the love of all that is good, why do these news stations send people over there to film the effects of this deadly disease and be exposed to it? I just don’t get society today. It’s like we are hell bent on destroying ourselves in as many ways as possible all at the same time. They are going to keep messing around till this disease is wide spread all over the world. Then they will all be pointing fingers at somebody else to blame but it won’t matter. This media frenzy to get the best coverage or story is going to be the death of us all.
Are you My2Pencce by chance? Or MyTuppence?
Idiotic woman. They just put more lives in danger. She should do jail time after her quarantine.
The most entitled behavior I have seen in about the last two minutes.
It doesn’t surprise or shock me but it does make me angry because she put the health of the general public at risk because she wanted take out? Really?
How grandiose of her. Her hubris makes her a danger to the rest of us. She’s one physician I would avoid like the plague.
Ebola Nancy is the new Typhoid Mary. Both thought they couldn’t spread a disease because they weren’t symptomatic.
Now I realize how it feels to really hate another human being.
Do I think the risk was low? Yes. Am I going to give her a pass because as a ‘medical expert’ she knows better than the rest of us? Absolutely not. As a medical professional, who has a high public profile, she had an ethical responsiblity to abide by the voluntary quarantine.
That press statement smacked of self-superiority and was the equivalent of patting us poor ignorants on the head and saying, “Now, now, don’t worry – I’m the doctor and I know better”. NBC News needs to cut her loose and quick or I’m going to lose any respect I have for them as a journalistic resource. Buh-bye Dr. Nancy – I really hope that was the best bowl of soup you’ve ever had.
Fire her. Her reputation as a doctor is ruined. She is completely
untrustworthy.
If she would have come out and said ya I F-ed up, I should have stayed home, don’t do as I do, she might have been ok. This smug know it all attitude and spreading the blame around to the team is what is going to screw her.
And the people blaming the nurse for contracting the disease and failing to follow protocol need to really evaluate why they believe what the government is telling them. They won’t admit that the protocol is flawed, let’s blame the worker.
You are correct about the doctor. Had she been actually sorry for what she did, things would be different.
People blaming the nurse are ignorant. The WHO has come out and said that the CDC protocols aren’t enough protection, so the fact that she was following the CDC’s way of doing things and that it didn’t work should prove that the CDC is wrong about protecting oneself from ebola.
The Guinean strain of ebola – discovered this year during this outbreak – is airborne. The CDC has a page on it and they updated it to reflect that standing within 3 feet of an infected person or being in a room for an “extended period of time” with someone infected would transmit the disease. If it’s only transmitted by touching fluids, then those things wouldn’t happen.
They’re not saying which strain of ebola Duncan had, nor have they said which strains the other people brought to the U.S. had, either.
I won’t trust her medical opinion in the future. A medical doctor should have not put her taszte
buds before our health. What kind of example does she set for others. NBC should let her go.
Thank you.
I couldn’t believe it when I read this. Really? She put people at risk for a food run? She may claim they is no risk; well the CDC is still not sure how the nurse in TX got it – and wearing protective gear. I really feel bad for the restaurant owner. The restaurant has been named in the news. Who is going to want to go to dinner or get take out from there? The place would get more business if the local Dept. of Health slapped a low grade on its door for failing the last inspection. The employee who handed them the dinner must be upset too. If the business is negatively impacted by this case of the munchies, watch the owner sue.
B*tch. Total b*tch.
What a selfish, entitled, smug little scumbag.
I’m not usually a name-caller, but wow. You gotta have a serious ego problem to be so cavalier about this disease and the risks it can pose to others around you.
FIRE HER A$$ NOW..SET A PRECEDENT!
She takes no responsibility for being in the car, for the one crew member to go into a public place to get the food, nor does she take responsibility for showing Americans that quarantines do not apply to them. That is not an apology, and her apology means nothing even if it were real. If every potentially infected person does what she does, ebola will spread.
I think she and the entire crew who went outside should be fired immediately. She’s supposed to be the “chief medical correspondent” and we’re supposed to be able to trust what she says regarding medical issues. Now that she has broken quarantine, she should never hold another medical position. I’d be happy if they took her medical license as well, but don’t think that will happen.
I used to like this woman, but no more. What a supremely bitchy statement. How hard would it have been to issue a simple “I am terribly sorry, it won’t happen again.”
I work very closely with doctors as a CT/x-ray tech in the ER. This is, unfortunately, typical behavior of many doctors. The amount of arrogance is unreal. Many doctors don’t wash their hands after using the bathroom. They ignore protocol when they are sick or injured. A doctor, who I like quite a bit, broke his hand. He kept insisting on doing only a 1 view x-ray when protocol dictates at least 2 views at 90 degree angles (preferably 3) to visualize displacement of fracture fragments. The other doctor who was reducing the fracture finally convinced him to get another view and also that he shouldn’t reset the bones himself.
Lots of radiologists think nothing of the radiation exposure they expose themselves, their patients, and the rest of the staff to during procedures.
I’ve had doctors balk when I insist on female patients of child-bearing age getting a pregnancy test before getting certain CT studies. They’ve honestly asked me, “Who’d f**** that?”
I have always felt that Dr. Snyderman was just a mouthpiece for official AMA propaganda.
After this very wreckless behavior of violating quarantine, I have absolutely no confidence in anything she says. Her credibility is in the minus column.