Tamil Nadu man who unknowingly donated HIV blood to pregnant woman commits suicide

The man, who had allegedly donated HIV-infected blood to a pregnant woman at a government hospital in Tamil Nadu’s Virudhunagar district recently, has committed suicide, according to news agency ANI. The Ramanathapuram police said the 19-year-old blood donor had attempted suicide on Wednesday. “He was doing fine but when he saw the news that his blood was transfused to a pregnant woman, he consumed rat poison,” said the mother of the man.  

Three lab technicians have been suspended after the gross medical negligence came to light. The woman was allegedly given the HIV-infected blood, which was brought from the Sivakasi Government Hospital, on December 3. The lab technicians at the blood bank in the hospital failed the due diligence. They didn’t inform either the donor or the patient about the HIV status of the particular unit of blood. It took more than two years before this shocking lapse could be unearthed.

HIV blood transfusion case of Madurai: Person who allegedly donated HIV blood to pregnant woman commits suicide. Donor's mother says, “He was fine but as he saw news that his blood was transfused to a pregnant lady, he thought he should not live & consumed rat poison.” #TamilNadu pic.twitter.com/ZKVXD5TiGJ

— ANI (@ANI) December 30, 2018

The probe revealed that a man had donated blood at the government hospital in 2016. The hospital failed to inform him that he was detected HIV-Positive. Two years later, the same man again donated blood on November 30.

It was around this time that the man went for a series of medical check-ups for his job application abroad. The tests revealed that he was HIV-Positive. He went for another blood test to confirm the HIV status.

In between all this, the pregnant woman was given the same blood brought from the Sivakasi government hospital. The probe began only after the donor told the hospital about the HIV status.

The state government said it will bear all the medical expenses of the woman. The woman is being counselled for the HIV treatment.

“While the first level of inquiry has been conducted to identify where the mistake took place, we will conduct further investigations to identify all loose ends,” Tamil Nadu Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan was quoted as saying by the New Indian Express.