Massachusetts Woman Misdiagnosed With HIV Awarded $2.5M

Chrissie Cole

Contributor

0 CommentsPrint ArticleSubscribe

A Massachusetts woman, given HIV treatments for nearly nine years before discovering she was misdiagnosed, was awarded $2.5 million in damages.

The medical malpractice lawsuit claimed the doctor treating her at the University Of Massachusetts Medical Center, repeatedly failed to order proper tests to confirm the diagnosis, even though regular blood tests did not show the presence of HIV.

The lawsuit claimed the powerful combination of drugs she was taking created a string of ailments that included chronic fatigue, depression, loss of appetite and weight and inflammation of the intestine.

The lawsuit was originally filed in 2003 after she became suspicious of her diagnosis and went to another hospital for further tests.

It is one of the clearest cases of misdiagnosis that I have ever seen and it's based in part on a presumption that people who engage in certain types of conduct are more likely to have HIV and AIDS than other people without really listening to the patient," said her lawyer following the verdict.