A woman has successfully sued a hospital for testing and revealing her HIV status without her consent.
The woman – whose identity has not been revealed – accused the hospital where she used to work for testing her HIV status without preparing her mentally. She demanded Ksh10 million in damages.
She accused the hospital of carrying out the test without pre-test or post-test counseling and unlawfully disclosing her status something that caused her psychological trauma.
Awarded Ksh900,000
She was subsequently awarded Ksh900,000 for damages by a tribunal formed to listen to her case.
However, another judge; Justice Hedwig Ong’udi set aside the decision by the tribunal and instead awarded her Ksh2 million compensation to be paid by the hospital.
According to the judge, HIV test cannot be lumped with other tests and assumed to have been consented to by a subject, that his or her consent must be sought.
The judge said: “There must be counselling and preparation before this test is taken. None of these was undertaken.”
Of the Sh2 million, Sh400,000 is for testing without consent, Sh250,000 for lack of counselling, Sh500,000 for unlawful disclosure of status and Sh850,000 for emotional distress and stigma.
My colleagues talked abut my HIV status on the corridors
The hospital denied all the accusations, and instead asked the HIV-Aids tribunal to order the woman to pay an outstanding bill of Sh33,067 and damages for bad publicity.
The tribunal sided with the woman – awarding her Ksh900,000 – but which the court increased Ksh2 million following an appeal.
The court heard that the doctor disclosed the HIV results to her in the presence of other patients. Further, the doctor notified the human resource officer without her consent making her to suffer physically, emotionally and psychologically.
She said that her status became the subject of talk in the hospital corridors with her colleagues openly talking about it.