Court order still calls for arrest, detention of Tacoma woman avoiding TB treatment
Friday’s court hearing regarding a Tacoma woman refusing to comply with court orders for isolation and treatment of tuberculosis reinforced an earlier order of contempt and order for involuntary detention.
The woman, listed in court documents as V.N., has so far not cooperated with her court-appointed monitor attempting to meet with her, or law enforcement assigned to execute a warrant for detention and isolation issued in early March.
Pierce County Superior Court Judge Philip K. Sorensen on Friday issued his latest order, further responding to an objection filed by the woman’s court-appointed attorney to an order of contempt and ordering involuntary detention, testing and treatment.
Sorensen on Friday again found the woman in contempt of court orders, writing that “The Civil Warrant for Arrest shall remain in full force and effect until executed.”
According to the order, “Unless respondent is in custody, she shall remain quarantined in isolation at the address listed on the confidential schedule on file … for a period not to exceed 45 days beginning on April 7 at 5:00 p.m. through May 22 at 5 p.m. or until such time as the Civil Warrant for Arrest is executed.”
The order called for her to be detained in the Pierce County Jail 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.”
Friday’s action follows case filings submitted earlier this week by a court-appointed monitor, a health department representative and the Chief of Corrections with Pierce County Jail, each attesting to the woman’s non-compliance with the court’s order and continued avoidance of detention.
The reports filed to the court ahead of Friday’s hearing included testimony noting law enforcement had “observed a person they believed to be respondent leave her residence, get onto a city bus, and arrive at a local casino.”
Since January 2022, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department has repeatedly sought and received court orders in attempts to isolate the patient to protect the public. Documents filed early in the case’s history reported that the woman started, but did not follow through with, prescribed treatment for TB.
Beyond the public health risk, her incomplete treatment has raised concerns among health officials of leading to drug-resistant TB.
A court filing from TPCHD in January described the woman being the passenger in an auto accident and following up seeking treatment at an emergency room complaining of chest pains. X-rays indicated progressing TB, according to the petition, adding the woman also had tested positive for COVID-19.
Orders from the court that have issued instructions for compliance have numbered close to 20 so far in the case.
TPCHD on Thursday released a one-sentence statement about the case: “Law enforcement has the civil arrest warrant that authorizes them to detain the patient who is still refusing treatment.”
The next court review hearing is scheduled for May 19.
