Recently, Simferopol witnessed an sensational court case when a medical worker who disclosed patient information of a child tested for HIV was sued and convicted first time in the history of Ukraine, KW wrote this week.
In September 2011 a resident of Simferopol filed a claim against a medical worker who disclosed confidential information about the HIV status of her child. A boy, who was adopted by the claimant, went to school only for a few weeks when his mother noticed he was reluctant to go to school and became withdrawn. The woman learned that the boy’s classmates humiliated and insulted him on the account of his diagnosis. She later discovered that one of the parents who worked as a nurse in the orphanage from where the child was adopted told parents that the boy was HIV-positive.
Adults told their children not to make friends with the ailing boy. Classmates humiliate the boy, teachers understated his grades and none of the pupils wanted to sit with him at the same desk. The boy was seriously stressed and psychologically scarred. At the end of 2012 the criminal case was brought to court, but the defendant failed to show up and dragged out the case.
On January 21 the court found the woman guilty of disclosure of the results of medical examinations for HIV or other incurable diseases. The court banned the woman from being employed as a medical worker and pay a fine of UAH 1,700 for her infraction. The Interior Ministry noted that this was the first such case in Ukraine solved in favor of the claimant.
