Wrong HIV Test Leads to Job Loss

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1994. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Wrong HIV Test Leads to Job Loss

American Medical News (12/05/94) Vol. 37, No. 45, P. 17

A federal trial court for Puerto Rico has ruled that the government cannot be held liable in a medical malpractice action. While a Veteran's Canteen Service worker, who voluntarily submitted to an HIV test, was found HIV-positive in Oct. 1987, a Western Blot test in January 1988 showed he did not have the virus. After the first test, the treating physician sent a memo to the employee's supervisor stating he was unfit to work in food handling and recommended that he be removed from his food-service position. The employee sued the government for medical malpractice, arguing that the hospital and physician were negligent in handling the test results-- that they were confused with another worker's--and that his test results were improperly disclosed and, therefore, breached physician-patient confidentiality. The court found that the test mix-up theory lacked merit because the test showed a positive reaction and because the worker was diagnosed with Pneumoncystitis carinii pneumonia--a condition frequently found in AIDS patients. The court also said that Puerto Rico law recognizes no malpractice claims where a physician's diagnosis fell within the accepted range of medical practice. No breach of confidentiality occurred, the court held, because the memo only stated the employee was unfit to work, not that he was HIV-infected.

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