Nurse Kaci Hickox and the state of Maine reached a settlement Monday over its efforts to restrict her movements since she arrived in Fort Kent last week after treating Ebola patients in West Africa.
The two sides agreed to abide by the restrictions put in place by a District Court judge on Friday that Hickox will submit to daily monitoring of her health, inform state health officials if she travels to ensure uninterrupted monitoring, and keep officials apprised if her health changes. Those restrictions were to be temporary until a full hearing in court in Bangor on Tuesday.
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Under the settlement, the judge’s restrictions will remain in effect until Nov. 10, which will mark 21 days after her last exposure to the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone.
The case has been closely watched by health care workers and policymakers because it is the nation’s first legal challenge to restrictions some states have imposed on people coming into the United States from the Ebola-affected countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, where Hickox volunteered with Doctors Without Borders. The dispute triggered a nationwide debate pitting public health concerns against a person’s constitutional rights.
Ebola, an infectious disease with a high fatality rate marked by fever and severe internal bleeding, has already killed about 5,000 people in Africa and one man in Texas, who infected two Dallas nurses who worked with him.
Before she was allowed to travel to Maine early last week, Hickox was placed in quarantine for a few days in New Jersey. That came soon after a doctor returning to New York City from Guinea had tested positive for Ebola and the governors of New York and New Jersey imposed mandatory quarantines on anyone returning from West Africa.
Last week, members of the news media from around the world descended on the Fort Kent home Hickox shares with her boyfriend, Ted Wilbur, camping out there and following her when she left the house, trips that included a bike ride Thursday in defiance of the state’s quarantine.
The University of Maine at Fort Kent, where Wilbur is a nursing student, requested last week that he not attend classes because some other students expressed concern he might have been exposed to Ebola through Hickox, who has twice tested negative for the virus.
Wilbur said by text message on Monday that he still had not been allowed to return to his classes Monday but is negotiating with university officials to see when he can return.
“They said I could return but that the students needed to be warned first so they could avoid classes if they don’t want to be near me,” Wilbur said. He said his next classes are Thursday.
Ray Phinney, the university’s associate dean of student life and development who has been acting as a spokesman, did not return a phone call and email seeking comment.
One of Hickox’s lawyers, Steve Hyman, said there’s no reason Wilbur should be barred from campus, and attorneys plan to talk to him to see what he plans to do until Nov. 10.
Tim Feeley, a spokesman for the Maine Attorney General’s Office, which had argued the state’s case that Hickox should be confined at home under restrictions, declined to comment on the resolution.
“All I can do is say the order speaks for itself,” Feeley said, citing state confidentiality laws.
Feeley said Attorney General Janet T. Mills stood by her statement on Friday in which she said she was pleased with the judge’s ruling.
“I believe we must do everything in our power not to fan the flames of fear but to encourage public health professionals such as Kaci Hickox to continue their brave humanitarian work to control this deadly disease and to welcome them home when they return,” Mills said in Friday’s statement.
Another of Hickox’s attorneys, Eric Saunders, said Monday morning that he was satisfied with the resolution, adding that court-ordered restrictions against Hickox will expire at 11:59 p.m. on Nov. 10.
“I don’t want to characterize it as win-lose. I think the state was searching for a resolution that would protect the public, and we were searching for a resolution that would protect Kaci’s civil rights. I think we reached some common ground,” said Saunders, of the Portland firm Bernstein Shur. Hickox was also represented by New York attorneys after her initial quarantine in New Jersey following her return from Sierra Leone on Oct 24.
Adrienne Bennett, a spokeswoman for Gov. Paul LePage, said the governor had no further comment. He had criticized Hickox’s refusal to abide by the state’s quarantine.
Maine health officials had tried to require Hickox to abide by an in-home quarantine since Tuesday, but relaxed the proposed restrictions in a petition filed Thursday. The petition did not reference quarantine and asked that Hickox be ordered to follow guidelines of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for Ebola monitoring, calling her a public health threat.
Chief District Court Judge Charles C. LaVerdiere on Friday rejected the state’s argument that Hickox should be prevented from leaving her house or interacting with the public.
Scott Dolan can be contacted at 791-6304 or at:
Twitter: scottddolan
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