Woman Suspected of AIDS Wins Lawsuit Against HospitalA local hospital and an epidemic prevention station lost a lawsuit filed by a businesswoman because they said AIDS before confirming it.The hospital and its epidemic prevention station were ruled to pay the woman 26,905 yuan (US$3,241.5) in compensation. Yu Meifang, 41, a citizen of Linhai in east China's Zhejiang Province, has been doing business for years in Xinzhou Prefecture of Shanxi Province in north China. She got sick in February this year and stayed in the People's Hospital of the prefecture for medical treatment. The hospital, not authorized to confirm an AIDS test, took a primary screening test when doing a blood routine examination for Yu. The result indicated that Yu was HIV positive. The hospital then showed the result to Yu's relatives before sending her blood sample for confirmation from an authorized medical institution. Xinzhou Epidemic Prevention Station went directly to Yu's workplace, a local shopping center, for further investigation without reporting to its superior. Horrified and depressed, Yu traveled several times to Beijing for authoritative medical checkups. All the results proved that she had not been infected with the HIV virus. Having mixed feelings of grief and joy, Yu brought to court the hospital and the epidemic prevention station. The two medical units lost the lawsuit for breaking the rules of keeping secret the results of a primary screening test designed for detecting the HIV virus, according to the judgment of the local people's court. This is the first case of its kind in China. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |