AEGiS-UPI: Chinese AIDS victim's family awarded $1.2m

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2001. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Chinese AIDS victim's family awarded $1.2m

United Press International - Tuesday, 11 September 2001
Susanne Padilha

HONG KONG, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- A Chinese court has awarded the family of a woman, who died after being infected with the AIDS virus through a blood transfusion, 10 million yuan -- $1.2 million -- the China Daily reported.

Chen Xiumei was infected during a transfusion at Nanzhang County No. 2 People's Hospital in Hubei Province while giving birth in February 1998. Her husband, Shen Jieyong, and their newborn daughter tested positive for HIV -- the virus that causes AIDS -- soon afterward.

The woman had earlier been diagnosed as anemic and was given blood at another hospital. The couple filed lawsuits against both hospitals, seeking more than $1.5 million in medical costs and compensation. An investigation traced the source of the infected blood to the hospital that treated Chen in 1998 and the second facility was released from the lawsuit.

Nanzhang hospital, however, had collected and provided blood without state licenses and without screening for HIV. The court ruled that it was this blood that was given to Chen.

The court ordered that annual payments rather than a lump sum be made to Shen and his daughter as well as other relatives of the dead woman, with an order to stop payments if a cure is found for them.

Last month, China acknowledged it was facing an AIDS epidemic. The United Nations has estimated that China would have 10 million HIV/AIDS patients by 2010. Chinese officials said that around 70 percent of people infected with HIV received the virus through intravenous drug use. However, medical specialists warned of tainted blood supplies coming from illegal plasma collections.
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