Man's HIV Diagnosis Reversed 8 Years Later
 

SAN FRANCISCO - A California man who once tested positive for HIV has learned the diagnosis made eight years ago was mistaken and he never had the virus that causes AIDS.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...lse_hiv_test_3

I'd say $100M is about right for a settlement.

I have sympathy but really his discomfort is not something that will stay on my mind for too long. If he paid any costs then those should be recovered but it seems he even got free meals out of it.

-Rudey

I would be sooooo pissed about this. For some reason I think this is not the first time this has happened.

He should obviously be reimbursed for medical costs related to the treatment. I wouldn't really see how a huge cash award could be justified. Juries are getting a lot tougher on large cash awards.

You don't see how a large cash reward would be justified? Seriously, could you even imagine the suffering that would be involved in thinking you had HIV for 8 years? I can't -- I think it would be more mental anguish than I've ever experienced in my life, and I damn well think he should receive money for that.

I'd think after 8 years, he'd be over it. I really don't see how it would amount to millions in damages at any rate. And as far as him actually getting a jury to go along with it, I'd say his chances are not very good. Juries lately (as I said before) have seemed less likely to agree to large cash awards for punative damages.

Let's not forget the free meals he ate.

-Rudey

As usual, I suppose we'll agree to disagree. I think that living for 8 years thinking that you have this terrible disease would be incredibly, incredibly painful mentally, not to mention physically if he was taking any medication. After 8 years of living with this diagnosis, I don't see how he could just wake up the next day and say wow, okay, I'm fine!

As usual ;)

If I were him, I think I would definitely be upset, but I think that the only monetary compensation I would ask for would be to cover my medical expenses. I think I would just be so happy and relieved to find out that I'm not gonna die that I wouldn't be concerned about trying to get more out of it.

There was an article about this in the local paper and one of the things he was most angry about is that the service he received could have gone to someone who really needed it. Plus, a lot of his relatives pretty much turned their backs on him.

So, he not only spent 8 years of his life depressed and thinking he was going to die, but he also lost relationships with people who were supposed to be there for him and love him the most.

I'm with valkyrie on this one. I think he deserves some, if not all the money.

It's really easy to say that you'd be angry but relieved and only want rembursement for medical expenses. But I think if you were in his shoes you'd be mad as hell! I know I would. I agree with Valkyrie and he should get ever penny he's asked for.

....A second opinion...?

That's the first thing I'd do in his shoes eight years ago. Only one test in eight years...don't they measure your white blood cells or something when dosing you with the drug cocktail.

you wanna know WHY this man should get freakin 100 million bucks?

well, the small reason is because they told him he was going to die and well...living thinking that you will die just plain sucks. and also Because he wasnt able to get LAID for 8 years. No one wanted to touch him. That SUCKS

Current medical procedures generally dictate AT LEAST one 'second opinion' test to rule out, or at least lessen significantly, the likelihood of false positive - which is a statistically significant, if not necessarily 'high', occurance. The second test came back negative, as it should have - thus the possibility of negligence comes into play w/ regard to medical malpractice, but is there enough to prove malfeasance, and to what price do you attribute his 'emotional state' during his treatment? Tough questions, no doubt.



He should be reimbursed for his treatment, but $100MM is an inordinate amount to receive for essentially being given a new lease on life.

THIS SORT OF CASE DRIVES LEGITIMATE MEDICINE INTO RUINS. Sorry guys, it's the truth - what if that money was lessened to say, $20MM - $1MM for the man (over and above the cost to him over the 8 years), and $19MM to treatment/research medicine? Doesn't that make more sense than making a healthy, happy man wealthy beyond his ability to spend???

Jesus Christ, I can't imagine a man 'earning' $100MM through suffering - especially from the VA . . . why not just shut it the f- down while you're at it? No way the VA can afford that kind of cash, and there's a cap on the doctor's malpractice, I assure you.

I totally have to agree with Valkyrie on this one.

I mean even a fter 8 yrs....the mental anguish of knowing you ...
1. could infect someone
2. cant really have a normal sex life, kids, or someone who would be as intimate as a non infected SO would be
3 really the thought of dying is full of anxiety
4. it is a death sentence in a way
5. changed your entire way of life and how you know it
6. the malpractice of it
7. the medical cost
8. i could go on


$100 mill is low considering it all

I feel bad for the guy. I really really do. I don't even want to imagine what it would be like to live for 8 years thinking I had HIV. He definitely does deserve some compensation. But I agree with everything KSig said... I don't think $100 million is justified. Give him a fraction of that, fine, but $100 million? Do you have any idea how much that is?

By the way, he's gay and I hear he's in his late 50's, so I seriously doubt kids were gonna happen.

But still to live with the idea that if you got sick and couldn't recover , like with HIV , or even worse if matters got worse could die .....that is mental anguish to live for 8 yrs ......that is horrible.

ok he is in his late 50s.....men can still help in the baby making process :) hehehe

ok he may be gay but still to live all those yrs waiting for death to knock at your door if his condition worsen.......fraction.....oh the whole enchilada!

100 mill from m alpractice for something so simple as a blood test to say yeah or nay

Many gay people have children, as do men in their 50s.

Although I think he's entitled to money, I agree that 100 million is excessive -- but I don't think that 1 million is enough.

I say make him pay back the cost of all those free meals. I bet the VA hospital even paid for his meds and treatment too.

-Rudey

Ok, but being gay and nearly 60 leads one to believe that children were maybe not a goal in his life.

I think that $100 million dollars is too high.

This is why you get a second or third opinion when you get a serious diagnosis. You have to be your own advocate when it comes to your heath.

There ya go.

No one wants to take responisbility for themselves these days. Sometimes Dr.'s and Hospitals DO get it wrong. When all this guy had to do is trot down to the nearest clinic to get a 2nd opinion.

He had 8 years to do it, so why didn't he?

I dunno, I kind of agree with KSig RC on this one...

Dude HAD a second test ran on him, but the results were NEVER shared with him...

The article sez the Dr. said he was sorry... I can understand why "sorry" doesn't cut it after 8 years of being jacked up with "protease inhibitors"--aside from the fact that these drugs have secondary effects--such as cardiotoxicity...

So dude may not die of AIDS or cancer--which an HIV infection can cause--but will probably have cardiac hypertrophy that was built up over the years--and forget what these drugs did to his liver... But he won't get Alzheimer's--maybe... Who knows?

I say he get FREE medical healthcare for the rest of his life with full perscription coverage!!!

As far as medical doctor's fcukin' up with medical records--

An informed patient is a good patient...

In fact, I ask to see the results and ask them how they did the tests... They bullisht with me, they are asking for trouble... Because, I will order the DAYUM test kit myself and do it myself...

The other issue is, the "normal range" and "limits"... For many an HMO and VA--a patient can only present waaay below or waaay above the "standard range" that for whatever ails them... The standard was set ~50 years ago--research has advanced light years from that time. So what the "standard" is, is anybody's guess...

And with Single Nucleotide Polymorphic markers coming into play with pharmacogenetics and Big Pharma, it will make a confounding situation with folks...

Why cain't we cure nuthin' no mo'?

I worked in a gene therapy lab for a while . . . we could 'kill cancer' in amazing ways using viral therapy, including macro-level HPV retraction . . . but it will be decades before a human sees the results. We can def kill the virus, for instance, but who in the shit knows what it will do to you? Not me or my lab - and they have decades of experience w/ just our 'suicide' gene.


I can 'cure' almost anything . . . survival might be low, though (think "Nagasaki radiation" low)


It's crazy - novel strategies give novel results . . . it's the truth, too

"Suicide" retroviral vectors are interesting as cures for cancer, but there are huge ethical concerns, i.e. using a virus to kill another virus--there is always something bigger and badder than first one...

That's the thing, you nuke the fast growing cells, but you also nuke some good cells that aren't growing too fast, but are in a cell cycle that gets picked up with suicide gene...

Then there is the mutation rate--good guys going bad...

I dunno, cures ain't gonna be what they use to be... It will be more like, "pick your poison" and sign your death certificate--'cuz everyone will die one way or another...

Good Luck on your endeavors... If you want more insight for discussion, PM me... I would like to know more with getting extremely technical off this forum...