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Jul 28, 2010
A U.S. district judge ruled July 22 that a discrimination case concerning a woman who was denied surgery because she’s HIV-positive can proceed to trial.
In February 2009, Lambda Legal and the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin filed suit on behalf of Melody Rose, 36, after Dr. Steven Cahee of Fond du Lac refused to remove her gallbladder due to concerns about HIV transmission. Rose underwent the procedure at a different medical facility.
Lambda Legal and the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin filed suit on Rose’s behalf against Cahee, the Fond du Lac Regional Clinic and Agnesian Healthcare, which operates the clinic as well as St. Agnes Hospital.
The defendants had sought a summary judgment that would avoid a trial, but Judge J.P. Stadtmueller said the case could proceed to trial under four different anti-discrimination laws. “A reasonable jury could look at all of this evidence and conclude that Dr. Cahee discriminated against Rose in the provision of services by declining to perform surgery on her and that this decision was based on Rose’s disability,” he wrote.
“Doctors are supposed to first, do no harm, but Dr. Cahee’s conduct was very harmful,” said Rebekah Kopec-Farrell, director of ARCW’s legal services program. “Our state has laws that explicitly protect people living with HIV from discrimination, and our community’s healthcare providers should be our first line of defense in the fight against the misinformation and fear that fuels such discrimination.”
The case is Rose v. Cahee et al.
from WiG and AP reports
