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A 55-year-old woman who received a kidney transplant in 2007 at Southwest Florida Regional Medical Center is now suing the hospital because the kidney carried the HIV virus.
Karen Cruz’s donor was a family member who was unaware at the time that they had the HIV virus. However, Cruz says that her donor’s blood was tested prior to the transplant for HIV and infection by the hospital, and even though the tests were positive for HIV, the hospital did not inform her and proceeded with the transplant.
The hospital says that despite those allegations, the services they provided to Cruz were “appropriate and met the standards of care.”
Cruz said that she did not even learn from the hospital or her doctors that she had HIV; her medical malpractice attorney informed her after obtaining the donor’s test results from the hospital.
According to an interview with WZVN-TV, Cruz said that she takes 20 pills a day just to stay alive. “I have not been able to enjoy not one minute of life since I got off that operating table. I have been so sick, it’s unreal,” Cruz said.
To read more about this Florida medical malpractice suit, read Lawsuit: Hospital transplanted HIV infected kidney.