In an act of unusual saneness, the Illinois Supreme Court has ruled that people who groundlessly feel they were put at risk for HIV due to medical care are not entitled to monetary damages. The court ruled against a woman employee who sued over fears that she may have been infected when she injured herself at work in the office of an HIV+ doctor. The court also ruled against six patients who were treated by a dental student who happened to be HIV+. The judges said that proof of exposure is necessary to warrant damages and that just claiming fear of exposure was insufficient for compensation. None of the plaintiffs contracted HIV.
Hooray for the Illinois court! The days of irrationality need to be firmly put behind us.
Meanwhile, here in Texas a prison convict in solitary confinement is suing the prison system, alleging that someday the guard might accidentally hand him a disposable razor previously used by another convict who might be HIV-infected. We’ve never seen anyone infected through razor-sharing, and his entire argument is wild conjecture, but the suit made it to court. Some people may have too much time on their hands, but use of AIDS-phobia as a tool to abuse the court system should not be tolerated.
— Sandy Bartlett, Community Information/Education Coordinator
AIDS Services of Austin
ASA Info Line: 458-AIDS
E-mail: ASA@fc.net
This article appears in December 18 • 1998 and December 18 • 1998 (Cover).