National Jewish Medical and Research Center today discharged Robert Daniels, the multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis patient who came to the Denver hospital from Arizona.
Daniels is not contagious, said Gwen Huitt, one of his doctors at National Jewish, and took a commercial flight back to Phoenix this afternoon.
Per an agreement between Arizona and Colorado authorities, Daniels was guarded by a security officer during his stay at National Jewish, and a guard also escorted him back to Arizona.
Before arriving at National Jewish two months ago, Daniels was quarantined at a Phoenix hospital after he failed to follow doctors’ instructions to prevent him from infecting other people.
Daniels underwent surgery in July at University of Colorado Hospital to remove his left lung, which was heavily damaged by tuberculosis. He has been in recovery at National Jewish since then, establishing a regimen of antibiotics to treat the remaining infection.
Daniels will take his medicine — probably for the next two years — under observation by the Maricopa County Public Health Department.
Such “directly observed therapy” has become standard in TB treatment because the side effects of antibiotics often make patients sick, and they’re often tempted to give up on medications before their infection is gone, said National Jewish spokesman William Allstetter.
Huitt said she was “cautiously optimistic” about Daniels’ chance for recovery. His TB infection was heavier and more resistant to drugs than the disease of Andrew Speaker, another recent patient at National Jewish, Huitt said.
