The failure of nurse Kaci Hickox to collect any money after being held by state officials for 80 hours in a tent outside a hospital, even after twice testing negative for Ebola, illustrates the difficulties of getting compensated for allegations of excessive quarantine measures.

Hickox was not awarded damages or legal fees in a settlement July 27 in her federal suit against Gov. Chris Christie and other state officials over the quarantine measures she faced after returning from a mission to treat Ebola patients in Sierra Leone. The state agreed in the settlement to adopt measures to protect the rights of quarantined persons, but the demand in her complaint for $250,000 in damages went unfulfilled.

Experts in health law said courts are reluctant to second-guess quarantine orders, even those that appear based more on political considerations than on sound medical advice.