$11 million for incorrect HIV test result

Livern Barrett

It was supposed to be a routine HIV test for Angelina Rodriguez* so she could satisfy a request by her life insurance provider.

So she went to the May Pen, Clarendon branch of Caledonia Medical Laboratory on December 27, 2019, to have the test done.

One month later, during a visit to her doctor, Rodriguez got the crushing news that the HIV test result came back positive.

“It was very devastating. It has been very traumatic for me,” Rodriguez, who is a Christian, told The Sunday Gleaner during an interview on Thursday.

“We live in Jamaica, we all know the stigma and the discrimination,” she added, alluding to the treatment often meted out to HIV-positive people.

She agreed to The Sunday Gleaner interview on the condition that her name and any other information that could identify her would not be included in this report.

Finding it unbelievable that she could be HIV-positive, she shared that she left her doctor’s office that day and went to a neighbouring parish to do a rapid HIV test.

Her grim ‘diagnosis’ quickly turned to confusion after the rapid test result came back negative.

Another rapid test conducted two days later also came back negative.

Armed with these results, Rodriguez went to Caledonia Medical Laboratory’s main offices in St Andrew on January 31, 2020, and requested that her blood sample taken at the May Pen branch be re-tested.

Again, the result came back ‘positive’ for HIV.

She then requested that they take a fresh sample of her blood, and in a strange twist, that result came back negative.

She sought an explanation for the contradicting results, but none came. Angry that the lab had turned her world upside down with the initial ‘positive’ result, Rodriguez filed a lawsuit against Caledonia Medical Laboratory.

TEST CASE FOR SIMILAR LAWSUITS

Last month, Rodriguez was awarded damages totalling more than $11 million at the culmination of the lawsuit against Caledonia Medical Laboratory for the “misdiagnosis”, court documents revealed.

The award included $9 million for general damages.

The company acknowledged receipt of her claim, but filed a defence that was limited only to the assessment of damages.

“Liability was never contested in this case,” Symone Mayhew, KC, the attorney that represented Caledonia Medical Laboratory, confirmed when contacted by The Sunday Gleaner.

But Mayhew stated that the company has since filed papers in the Court of Appeal challenging the award, in what could be a test case for similar lawsuits.

Citing what she described as “very high awards” made by lower courts in similar post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) cases, the attorney explained that her client wants the country’s second-highest court to determine whether the monetary compensation in these cases are being wrongly decided.

As an example, she noted that claimants in PTSD cases stemming from an HIV misdiagnosis are being awarded in the region of $10 million, while other persons with the same symptoms are awarded in the $3-million range.

“We believe that this line of cases for HIV diagnosis has been decided wrongly because the courts have been focused on the stressor, which is the thing that causes the injury, when what the court is really supposed to be looking at is the injury itself,” Mayhew explained.

“So, whether you have post-traumatic stress disorder from an HIV misdiagnosis or a road traffic accident, or if you are involved in a fire, it should be in the similar category of awards.”

‘IT’S TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE’

Rodriguez acknowledged that Caledonia Medical was within its right to appeal the award, but said the move leaves her feeling victimised again.

“When the judgment came in, I thought it was over, I thought the book was closed, and I thought that I could have moved on. I said to myself, ‘it’s finally over’,” she recounted.

“But then I found out that it’s not over. It’s terrible, terrible.”

Mayhew said the company understands that “it is a matter that causes her some distress”, but said the organisation also needs to protect its legal rights.

Winning the lawsuit has done very little to lift Rodriguez out of the “dark” downward spiral she fell into after the shock from the initial ‘positive’ test, she indicated.

Suicidal ideations, PTSD, major depressive disorder, severe anxiety, as well as emotional and nervous shocks were among the injuries she suffered because of the “incorrect diagnosis”, according to documents she filed in court.

The court award also includes $1.2 million for future medical expenses.

Rodriguez described in court documents how the misdiagnosis triggered a flood of emotions, ranging from pain to tearful episodes.

She indicated, too, that at one point she asked her husband for a divorce, believing that their relationship was crumbling.

Rodriguez said she was now comfortable knowing that she is HIV-negative, but said her ordeal has drawn her closer to God.

“At that dark hour, He took me through. He was there; He is my friend and constant companion. He is the reason I am here talking to you,” she said.

[* Name changed to protect her identity]

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com