Monday, October 27, 2014

Quarantined Nurse, Kaci Hickox, Released Monday
Nurses protest lack of protocol in Ebola crisis.
By Dr. Drew staff
10:18 PM EDT, Mon October 27, 2014

Nurse Kaci Hickox put in quarantine after returning home from a month in Sierra Leone

NY, NJ policy requires healthcare workers who've had contact with Ebola patients in West Africa to be quarantined

A nurse who treated Ebola patients in West Africa was released from quarantine on Monday.

After returning home from a month in Sierra Leone, Kaci Hickox was put in isolation Friday at a New Jersey hospital. Her quarantine was due to a policy the governors of New York and New Jersey introduced. It requires all healthcare workers who've had contact with Ebola patients in West Africa to be quarantined for 21 days -- the maximum incubation period for the virus.

"This is an extreme that is really unacceptable, and I feel like my basic human rights have been violated," Hickox told CNN's Candy Crowley and Elizabeth Cohen Sunday over the phone.

Hickox will return to Maine, where health officials will place her under quarantine in her home, according to John A. Martins, spokesman for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.

The nurse's attorney, Stephen Hyman, told CNN there is a "legal basis" to challenge the quarantine policies, but Hickox is not sure she wants to do so.

Dr. Drew On Call airs Monday through Thursday on HLN at 9 p.m. ET. Follow the show on Facebook and Twitter @DrDrewHLN.

No comments: