By Trudy Simpson, Staff ReporterLAWYERS REPRESENTING a 13-year-old boy, who reportedly contracted HIV while under hospital care, were, on Monday, given permission by the Supreme Court to amend their statement of claim so that new parties can be added to the list of medical facilities named in an ongoing lawsuit.
Speaking with The Gleaner on Monday, the boy's attorney, Antonnette Haughton-Cardenas, said that her law firm made an application and was given court authorisation to amend the claim so the Ministry of Health could now be named in the lawsuit along with South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA), the National Blood Transfusion Service (Blood Bank) and the Bustamante Children's Hospital.
"You have to ensure that all parties are in the loop," Mrs Haughton-Cardenas said.
The boy was allegedly infected while being treated for haemophilia, a bleeding condition which requires that he gets repeated blood transfusions. The claimants allege that it was during the transfusions that the boy was infected.
However, the Attorney-General, representing the Ministry of Health and other Government parties, has not accepted liability in the boy's case, based on the negative results from tests carried out on donors who gave blood in the period the boy became infected.
Mrs. Haughton-Cardenas said that following court approval, her law firm will be given time to file the amended claim, serve it properly on the legal representatives of the facilities named in the lawsuit and for the named parties to do any adjustments.
Mrs. Haughton-Carde-nas, who is also representing a woman who contracted HIV while being treated for low blood count at the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH), added that a case management conference in the boy's case, which was set for Monday, was postponed as a result of the application proceedings. The conference is a precursor to an actual trial, offering the parties an opportunity to produce relevant documents and set a trial or pre-trial date. The parties may also arrive at a settlement during that period.
