AIDS: Mississippi Supreme Court Adopts New Standard for Fear of Exposure to AIDS

Extract

On November 4,1999, in South Central Regional Medical Center v. Pickering, 1999 WL 1000703 (1999), the Mississippi Supreme Court created a new legal standard that allows patients to recover damages for fear of exposure to AIDS even though they cannot prove actual exposure. By adopting this standard, the Mississippi Supreme Court joined the minority of jurisdictions seeking to encourage providers to use reasonable care when handling instruments capable of transmitting disease.

Plaintiff Jimmie Pickering is a female diabetic, who was receiving treatment at South Central Regional Medical Center (South Central) between September 30 and October 5, 1987 to regulate her blood sugar levels. Pickering used the hospital's Autoclix machine, which required that Pickering use lancets to prick her finger to draw blood.