Howard Midkiff Recieved HIV Infected Blood

[sugarfree irony]

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/...labeling-blood

A lawsuit filed Monday contends that Howard Midkiff contracted HIV after a blood transfusion during coronary bypass surgery at a Baptist Health Hospital in Montgomery and that LifeSouth was negligent in providing the infected blood without reasonable screening, handling and testing procedures. LifeSouth has 30 days to file an official response to the suit.

The FDA warned LifeSouth in January after inspections in October and November of 2011 showed improper practices at the LifeSouth blood processing center on WestCorp Boulevard in Huntsville. The warning noted failure to properly label tainted blood, inadequate employee training and problems with blood-testing equipment.

Mike Andrews, a Beasley Allen attorney representing Midkiff, said the part of the FDA warning that he finds the most disturbing deals with the improper care and maintenance of blood testing equipment, which can lead to unreliable tests.

“The manufacturer requires they be stored and maintained at a certain temperature,” Andrews said. “They weren’t even keeping up with the temperature at all. That’s a problem.”

The FDA letter also notes that a federal investigator witnessed a LifeSouth technician failing to properly label and quarantine a blood unit that tested positive for antibodies.

I thought there were so many safe guards in place that this did not happen anymore .

[TheMeaningOfItAll]

Holy shit! This is my nightmare. I asked my OBGYN before I had a c-section if I could donate my own blood in case I needed blood during surgery. She was like, "No need. There are tons of safeguards in place. You aren't at risk of catching anything if we do have to give you blood." I call bullshit. I should print this article off and mail it to her. Lying bitch. If what this guy says is true, he deserves a king's ransom.

[Valasca]

IDK, can this guy PROVE he got it from the bypass?

[Obsolete]

IDK, can this guy PROVE he got it from the bypass?

Yes

According to the lawsuit, the blood was donated by an unidentified man on Oct. 14, 2010, and Midkiff received the blood four days later. In May 2011, LifeSouth discovered the donated blood tested positive for HIV and notified Baptist Medical Center in Montgomery, the lawsuit states.
Blood testing in June 2011 diagnosed Midkiff as being HIV positive, according to the suit.

[Valasca]

Understood, @Obsolete, but... well, fuck it. I don't know how to word what I'm trying to ask.
... Could he hav e had it before the surgery? It's possible, albeit slightly, that his test before the surgery came up negative when it was really positive.

[Obsolete]

Understood, @Obsolete, but... well, fuck it. I don't know how to word what I'm trying to ask.
... Could he hav e had it before the surgery? It's possible, albeit slightly, that his test before the surgery came up negative when it was really positive.

Either way, the blood they gave him was HIV positive. They caught the error after his transfusion, then notified Mr. Midkiff of the mistake, he then went in to see if he was infected and he was.

[Valasca]

Yeah, regardless, he's got free medical care the rest of his life. His ruined life.

BAH, let me clarify... HIV infected people lead normal productive lives and can still have a normal sexual relationship. I just mean he will likely view it as ruined.

[Aena]

@Valasca they can check and see if the HIV tainted blood and the HIV Mr. Midkiff is infected with come from the same strain, they will biologically look the same. It is the same thing they do when an epidemic happens to check and see how far a strain has gotten or to see if a strain has mutated. They will have some of the same genetic markers.

He can live a full life, but he will still have to take some precautions that others won't have to take. If he is married, he will have to use protection with his wife, which due to his age I would assume he was no longer doing to avoid pregnancy issues (if he isn't married then I would assume he would be using protection regardless of his age because of STD's anyway). There is the stigma associated with the disease, even though there shouldn't be. There is the embarrassment that comes with having the disease, because he has to let anyone who ever comes into contact with his bodily fluids that he has the disease, for their own safety. Also, if he isn't married he will have to let any sexual partner know his HIV status before having any sexual relations with them.

His life is just a lot more complicated now, regardless, and it didn't have to be. For whatever reason, laziness, carelessness, whatever, this guy now has to live with other people's mistakes. In any case, I hope he wins and I hope he wins bigtime, so big that his grandchildren's grandchildren never have to work.

[Nell]

I did have have a transfusion after my C-Section. I never thought about this risk, like everyone else i assumed that blood is tested so well that you needn't worry.

Well.

[Valasca]

Strain. Duh. Thanks @Aena. I didn't even consider that.

[CbabyRKO]

This is beyond fucked up! OMG I am just cringing at the thought of walking into the hospital sound of health despite the need for a routine blood transfusion then one day waking up only to find out due to incompetence and negligence of the hospital now having HIV. That is just truly a fucked up mistake and I hope he gets every penny he can. This is beyond a simple mistake this is just tragic. Oh my stomach is churning.