Woman Wins Hiv Test Ruling

Two doctors have been told to pay a Sydney woman more than A$700,000 (£290,000) in damages for failing to inform her that her husband was HIV-positive.

The woman, named as PD, and her husband FH had HIV tests before getting married in 1999, but FH showed his wife, now 28, a forged medical certificate.

Doctors Nicholas Harvey and King Weng Chen said they had not told PD of the result due to patient confidentiality. Judge Jerrold Cripps ruled they should have insisted all results be shared when the couple first came to see them.

PD insisted on the tests because FH was from Ghana, which has high rates of HIV. She discovered she was infected only after finding the original certificate shortly before having their first child. The couple are now divorced. PD has remarried and her children are HIV-free, though she is not expected to see their 25th birthdays.