[2] Upon Speaker's return to the United States, the CDC placed him under involuntary isolation (similar to quarantine) using a provision of the Public Health Service Act.
[5] On March 28, 2007, his doctors and the health department believed the tuberculosis (TB) strain that Speaker had was a resistant one and communicated this to the CDC.
Speaker says that he was informed of MDR TB before leaving the country, and that while officials preferred him not to fly, they said that he was not a threat and was not required to wear a mask.
[13] It was reported that Speaker's father-in-law, Robert C. Cooksey, works for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is a microbiologist who has conducted research on tuberculosis, according to his CDC biography posted on the agency's Web site.
[14] Wearing a medical mask, Speaker was interviewed by Diane Sawyer on the June 1 edition of the American talk show Good Morning America on ABC and apologized to all passengers, explaining that he had not intended to endanger them.
[16] On July 26, 2007, Speaker was discharged after undergoing surgery to remove infected lung tissue and receiving antibiotic treatment.
A statement by his physicians said that he was no longer contagious, showed no detectable evidence of infection, and that he would continue antibiotic therapy for approximately two years.
[18] In 2009, Speaker sued the CDC for invasion of privacy, claiming that the release of his personal and medical information caused significant harm to his reputation and marriage.