Man sues hospital for revealing HIV status

June 14, 2008

A Boston man who claims his boss accidentally learned he was HIV-positive from a Caritas St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center emergency room physician is suing the hospital and the doctor for negligence, according to the Boston Herald.

It is illegal in Massachusetts for a physician to disclose a patient’s HIV/AIDS status without his or her written consent.

A hospitality worker identified as John Doe has filed a civil action in Suffolk Superior Court.

Doe, who spoke to the Herald in the presence of his attorney David D. Nielson, alleges he heard Dr. Angela Sweeny tell his boss he had tested positive for HIV while he was being treated at Caritas St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in May 2005 for an unrelated ailment, the Herald reported.

Doe said his supervisor at the “conservative company” where he works was wearing
“a white Oxford shirt and a tie” when Sweeny, assuming the boss was another doctor, allegedly began discussing the fact that Doe was HIV/AIDS positive.

In addition to unspecified financial damages, Doe is asking the court to order Caritas St. Elizabeth’s to “review and implement safeguards against wrongful disclosure of patient information” and to “require badges or other identification that provides assurance that the individual receiving such information is a physician or healthcare provider.”

“Walking up to a stranger in an emergency room is not sufficient,” Nielson said.