Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1993. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
San Francisco Chronicle - Tuesday, December 21, 1993
Yumi L. Wilson, Chronicle East Bay Bureau
Attorneys for the families of the HIV-infected patients had contended in a lawsuit that the Alameda-Contra Costa Medical Association knew that the deadly virus could be transmitted through blood transfusions but failed to conduct tests that could have detected it.
As a result, 2-year-old Anthony Pinedo; 3-year-old Jane Roe; and 41-year-old Charlie Pope contracted the virus that causes AIDS from blood received in May 1984, the attorneys said. Two have since died. The girl, whose family used a pseudonym in the suit to avoid publicity, is now a sixth-grader living in Stockton. She is taking AZT.
The blood bank's attorney, Richard Dodge, had maintained that the facility's director, Dr. Silvija Hoag, did everything she could to meet standards at that time. In fact, Hoag "was out in front, doing more than any other blood bank in the United States," he said.
Hoag had instituted various safeguards, including a policy at the blood bank not to accept blood from gay or bisexual men who said they were sexually active, Dodge said.
But Robert Bokelman, an attorney representing the families, contended that Hoag should have administered other tests, including one for Hepatitis B, to screen out HIV-contaminated blood.
The blood bank began administering the test for hepatitis B in June 1984, which was not mandatory at that time.
Before 1985, several tests, including the hepatitis B test, were given to screen the blood of high-risk donors by many blood banks and hospitals. But screening for HIV antibodies was not routinely done until March of that year.
Dodge said he is happy with the verdict but does not believe that the case can be a benchmark for other similar cases.
"I don't know if you can read a lot into it," he said. "What you can say about other blood banks is probably limited. They are all tragic. Whether you win or lose, you're still living with the tragedy."
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