One of my best lawyers lives in Kentucky. He makes Marler Clark within a few hours flight of anyone in the United Sates. But, what is happening in his home state makes me worry about him and his family. According to the Kentucky Department of Health, Kentucky’s latest death from hepatitis A reported this week by the state health department raised the toll to 58 in the nation’s largest outbreak of the contagious liver virus. This is in addition to 4,682 ill and 2,262 hospitalized.
The vaccine-preventable disease, spread mostly among drug users, has sickened 4,682 Kentuckians since the outbreak was declared in November 2017. Spread most likely person-to-person, the virus has hospitalized 48% of its victims and has hit 90% of Kentucky’s 120 counties, with 10 counties reporting new cases in the week ending May 25.
And, then there is the rest of the USA:
Kentucky certainly has been hit hard, but the numbers of unnecessarily ill and dead in the USA are shocking. Here are the current statistics from the CDC:
Drug use – mostly likely opioids – and homelessness – both issues that morally we need to deal and which we are failing at – have been the main driver of the spread of hepatitis A amount unvaccinated people..
However, in addition, a full 1/3 of the cases are attributable to neither drugs nor homelessness (can I remind you again of the nearly daily announcement of an ill restaurant (unvaccinated) worker exposing customers?). At this point restaurants that are not offering hepatitis A vaccination to employees are treading in the punitive damages area. I shall see you in court.