WOMAN SUES MINISTRY OF PUBLIC HEALTH FOR WRONG DIAGNOSE

The woman identified as Suthida Saengsumat, from the province of King and Thailand, says she was rejected by her colleagues because of her supposed state.

She said, "I cried every night at home. No money could pay back what I lost and I'd like to tell the doctor.

Suthida had to take antiretroviral drugs every day since her diagnosis at the age of eight, but she stopped five years ago when she was pregnant.

According to the lady who was wrongly diagnosed as HIV positive as a child is currently suing the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand for ending up ruining her childhood.

Following blood tests from other hospitals at the time and from this year on, Suthida was informed that she did not really have HIV and that neither her husband nor her children were infected.

Preeyanant Lorsermwattana, president of a network of people affected by medical negligence, said the network had received several complaints from people with similar diagnostic errors.

A Phuket nurse was also wrongly diagnosed as HIV positive and managed to win a case against the doctor responsible for the blood test.

Because of the misdiagnosis, the nurse had to take antiviral drugs for four years and lost the opportunity to work abroad.

The name of the hospital and the doctor involved in Ms. Saengsumat's case was not disclosed.