By Trudy Simpson, Staff ReporterLAWYERS REPRESENTING the Ministry of Health and the family of a 12-year-old boy, who relatives claim was infected with HIV/AIDS while under hospital care, are to begin arguing their case in court next April.
Head of the law firm representing the boy, Antonnette Haughton-Cardenas, indicated yesterday that a 10-day trial is to start on April 14, 2004.
But relatives are furious at the trial date, which is nine months away.
"We are not getting no justice, no where at all. They put off the case until way in April next year and the child is more to die more than anything else without getting any form of help from the Government. We need justice. We can't take it anymore," the boy's grandmother complained to The Gleaner on Friday, Emancipation Day, during a demonstration mounted by human rights group Families Against State Terrorism (FAST).
The boy's family and a 24-year-old woman are suing the Ministry. The Ministry has not accepted liability in the boy's case and has since filed a defence, through its legal representatives, the Attorney-General's Department. The defence is based on negative results from tests carried out on donors who gave blood during the period that the boy became infected.
BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS
The boy, given the public name 'Michael', was reportedly infected six years ago while getting blood transfusions to treat Haemophilia at the Bustamante Hospital for Children.
Regarding the young woman called 'Andrea', who was also infected while under state care, Mrs. Haughton-Cardenas said lawyers will be seeking a default judgement. She said they will be applying when certain court sessions resume in September.
The Ministry has accepted liability for Andrea's infection which occurred in 2001 when she was getting treatment for a low blood count at the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH).
Her lawyers are seeking $34 million plus US$16,000 in settlement from the Ministry of Health, up from the $23 million settlement initially sought.
LIABILITY
"What happens is that you want judgement as to liability and then we either agree on what the damages are or we go to assessment of damages," Mrs. Haughton-Cardenas explained. "What you do is to get a judgement that they are liable and then you have another hearing that determines how much or an agreement," she added.
Mrs. Haughton-Cardenas went public on April 14, 2003, stating that her company had filed a multi-million dollar civil suit against health facilities such as the Blood Bank, the Bustamante Hospital for Children and the Kingston Public Hospital. The law firm recently added the Ministry of Health and the Southeast Regional Health Authority to the suit list.
