Washington Woman Suing Plasma Company for False HIV Diagnosis

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — A Spokane woman is suing a Pennsylvania-based plasma donation company saying she was falsely told she had hepatitis and HIV after donating plasma at a clinic in Hayden, Idaho.

The Spokesman-Review reports Melissa Bloom filed the lawsuit against BioLife Plasma Services alleging the clinic acted negligently when employees informed her she had the viruses after a combination of blood samples from several donors tested positive.

Bloom is seeking damages for emotional stress and punitive damages, saying she was informed of the positive test in April and went immediately to her doctor's office for tests that determined she did not have the viruses. A week later, BioLife sent Bloom a letter saying they believed her test result was a "false positive." A BioLife official declined comment.