TB, Andrew Speaker and psoriasis

We would not typically cover a story like that of Andrew Speaker, the personal injury lawyer and international traveler with a dangerous strain of tuberculosis who boarded a plane with nearly 500 unsuspecting fellow-travelers. But the mini-scandal actually does have relevance to the psoriasis community.

Many psoriasis treatments, including the new biologics, can make someone more susceptible to serious infections. In fact, while few people die because of psoriasis, among the few that do are people who contract tuberculosis while taking these psoriasis medications. So the last thing we want are people with drug-resistant TB sitting next to us on planes or subways.

Perhaps the public heat put on Mr. Speaker will make the next person think a bit about those who could be harmed by ignoring the risk of transmission of TB.

And if after all those billions of dollars, it's still that easy to evade the Department of Homeland Security, perhaps some of those tax dollars would be better spent on psoriasis research.

(You didn't think we'd miss a chance to plug psoriasis research, did you?)