ACLU Files Federal Suit for Family of Man Denied Emergency Medical Treatment Based on HIV Assumption

Posted on | March 2, 2006

Here is a bright little nugget coming out of West Virginia. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit today in regards to the 2005 death of Claude Green of Welch, West Virginia, citing HIV discrimination. The suit was filed on behalf of Green’s family members and accuses the Welch police chief Robert Bowman was responsible for Green’s death because he physically prevented the use of CPR after Green suffered an acute myocardial infarction, commonly known as a heart attack which is literally death of heart muscle tissue. Green had been driving with a friend, Billy Sneade, and suffered a heart attack. Sneade attempted to perform CPR on Green but was told by Bowman to stop because Green was HIV positive. When Sneade continued Bowman physically forced him to stop and prevented anyone else from performing CPR until paramedics arrived. Even sicker than denying CPR treatment, Bowman told paramedics when they arrived that Green had HIV. The paramedics, who actually knew what the fuck they were doing, ignored Bowman and administered CPR but Green died at the hospital.

Time is extremely critical in cases of a heart attack because the heart does cause muscle tissue in the organ to die immediately when blood flow is interrupted. The longer someone goes without treatment the greater the chance is that the patient will not survive. Since Robert Bowman prevented CPR from being performed for ten minutes, that much more muscle tissue died and lead to Claude Green’s death.

Here is the clincher though: Claude Welch was HIV negative. Oops! The ACLU filed its suit in federal court and accuses Bowman of making his HIV assumption based solely on the fact that Green was openly gay. The ACLU also charges that Bowman violated the Americans with Disabilities Act which HIV/AIDS is considered to be a disability under the act. Not only are people who are discriminated against because they actually have HIV/AIDS protected, but those who are rumored to have HIV/AIDS are protected as well. The US Department of Justice Q&A on the act mentions this about HIV/AIDS:

An individual is considered to have a "disability" if he or she has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, has a record of such an impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment. Persons with HIV disease, both symptomatic and asymptomatic, have physical impairments that substantially limit one or more major life activities and are, therefore, protected by the law.

Persons who are discriminated against because they are regarded as being HIV-positive are also protected. For example, a person who was fired on the basis of a rumor that he had AIDS, even if he did not, would be protected by the law.

Moreover, the ADA protects persons who are discriminated against because they have a known association or relationship with an individual who is HIV-positive. For example, the ADA would protect an HIV-negative woman who was denied a job because her roommate had AIDS.

Green’s family members have lashed out against Bowman. His mother put it best I think:

"I can’t understand how someone who is supposed to protect the people of Welch could physically block another human from saving my son’s life. It’s always difficult for a mother to lose a child, but to have lost my son so needlessly will be with me for the rest of my life.""

This sort of stuff really makes me sick to my stomach. Is Bowman so uneducated that he thought someone could get HIV from performing CPR? And how about the fact that not all gay people have HIV? If he did, how the hell did he get a job as police chief? The bright side is that the family will most likely win and Bowman will be unemployed. I would also love to see Bowman charged with negligent homicide but unfortunately those charges are usually not brought in single instances of neglect but rather in cases where there is a pattern of negligence. Too bad, because I bet he would have fun in prison.

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Filed Under Discrimination |

Comments

One Response to “ACLU Files Federal Suit for Family of Man Denied Emergency Medical Treatment Based on HIV Assumption”

Handi
March 7th, 2006 @ 4:38 pm

Even more revolting in this story is what I call the “authority assumption”.

It is commonplace in our various governmental agencies, from local to federal, for those who are appointed or elected to “assume” a certain amount of expertise which they simply do not have.

Brown with FEMA and that silly singing guy who used to head Homeland Security. These lame brains “assumed authority” without the knowledge, the training or the common sense to do the task at hand.

It is obvious the “lawman” out of Welch, W.VA. was never even asked if he understood certain events which might befall him.

He, and those around him who hired him or elected him, share the guilt as well, for “assuming” he was a person with whom one could trust their life.

My deepest sypathy to the Green family.