Plasma center denies SC woman’s donation because she has HIV. They are wrong, suit says
An Horry County woman is suing a Myrtle Beach area plasma donation center after she was allegedly told she had HIV when she did not.
The suit names ADMA Bio Centers Georgia, ADMABiologics and Qualtrex Laboratories.
Messages left Thursday with ADMA Biologics, the parent company of the centers, and its attorney’s office were not immediately returned. A phone number for Qaultrex Laboratories continued to ring and did not allow for a message to be left.
ADMA has two centers in the Myrtle Beach area.
The center denied the woman, who is identified as “Jane Doe” in the suit, the opportunity to donate, saying that she could no longer donate plasma as her blood had tested positive for the HIV virus and directed her to go to the Myrtle Health Department “to discuss her illness,” the lawsuit said.
HIV is a virus that attacks cells that help the body fight infection, making a person more vulnerable to other diseases and if left untreated, can lead to AIDS.
Jane Doe is married, has a child and works full-time, the suit said. She would some times donate plasma to help pay her bills.
After hearing the information from the plasma center, Jane Doe became so overwrought that she had heart palpitations and went to the hospital, the suit said.
The health department tested the woman and later told her that she did not have HIV and that the test performed by the defendants “was false and inappropriate,” the suit said.
Jane Doe returned to the center and was told that despite the health department’s testing that she would never be able to give blood again because according to their records she had HIV, the suit said.
The suit says that Jane Doe does not have HIV, has never had HIV and has never been an at-risk person for HIV.
The suit claims that the defendants were negligent in their testing and in advising Jane Doe that she had HIV.
Jane Doe suffered severe emotional distress, trauma, mental anguish, stress on her marriage and incurred medical expenses from hospital visits.
The suit is asking for a jury trial and an award of damages for $74,500.
