Goss v. Oklahoma Blood Institute

856 P.2d 998, 1990 Okla. Civ. App. LEXIS 133, 1990 WL 504280
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedMay 23, 1990
Docket71191
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 856 P.2d 998 (Goss v. Oklahoma Blood Institute) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Goss v. Oklahoma Blood Institute, 856 P.2d 998, 1990 Okla. Civ. App. LEXIS 133, 1990 WL 504280 (Okla. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

BAILEY, Judge:

Appellants seek review of the Trial Court’s order granting summary judgment to Appellees. On September 17, 1984, Appellant Earl Goss underwent open heart surgery at Appellee Mercy Health Center, Inc. (Hospital), during which Appellant required transfusions of blood. Appellee Oklahoma Blood Institute (Institute) supplied the blood transfused, which had been obtained from a voluntary donor on September 12, 1984. The donor later tested positive for the Acquired Immuno-deficien-cy Syndrome (AIDS) virus, as did Mr. Goss. Mr. Goss subsequently developed several symptoms associated with the AIDS virus, and underwent treatment therefor.

Appellant Earl Goss, joined by his wife Appellant Cheryl Goss (hereinafter collectively Appellants), subsequently filed suit against Institute and Hospital, asserting liability of Appellees under strict liability, breach of implied warranty and negligence theories. In support of their negligence claims, Appellants alleged that Institute was negligent in its screening of potential donors and testing of donated blood, and that Hospital was negligent in failing to inquire of Institute regarding its testing and screening procedures. Appellees Hospital and Institute answered, denying negligence, asserting that blood transfusions have unavoidable inherent dangers, that there were, at the time of the blood donation and subsequent transfusion to Appellant, no tests or screening procedures which could detect the AIDS virus or carriers thereof, and that Hospital and Institute had exercised due and reasonable care in the screening and selection of donors and blood products.

The parties exchanged interrogatories and document requests. The Appellees deposed Appellant Earl Goss, at which time Mr. Goss admitted that he knew of the potential for blood communicated disease before he underwent surgery. Institute then filed its motion for summary judgment. As to the Appellants’ strict liability and breach of warranty claims, Institute asserted that 63 O.S.1981 § 2151 shielded Institute from liability thereunder. That section provides in pertinent part:

The procurement, processing, distribution or use of whole blood, plasma, blood products, blood derivatives and other human tissues such as corneas, bones or organs for the purpose of injecting, transfusing or transplanting any of them into the human body, for compensation or otherwise, shall be deemed a transaction for the purposes of this act. No such transaction shall give rise to any implied warranty of the fitness, quality, suitability of purpose, safety, or acceptability to the body of the patient or of any other characteristic or circumstance incident to the transaction involved bearing upon the propriety of the transaction, as applied to the recipient, on the part of the person or persons rendering such service, in the absence of negligence.

63 O.S.1981 § 2151.

As to the negligence claim, Institute offered the affidavit of the director of Institute, Dr. G., which showed lack of any test available at the time of donation and transfusion to detect the presence of the AIDS virus. Dr. G. also asserted that Institute *1000 required all potential donors to review AIDS information, to certify that the donors had reviewed the material, and requested that donors within any of the at-risk categories described in the materials exclude themselves from donation. Dr. G. therefore asserted exercise of reasonable care and no breach of duty by Institute in its screening and testing of donors and blood donations.

Hospital joined in Institute’s motion for summary judgment, also asserting immunity from liability under § 2151. Thereby, Hospital maintained that Dr. G.’s affidavit showed that blood transfusions have some inherent unavoidable dangers, and that Appellants had adduced no evidence to attribute the transmission of the AIDS virus to any negligence by Hospital. Hospital also introduced the affidavit of its Vice-president, who stated that Hospital had, previous to using Institute as a source of blood, determined (1) that Institute, the only local source of blood, adhered to all testing requirements mandated by the Bureau of Biologics/Federal Drug Administration and the American Association of Blood Banks, (2) that Institute used due care in its screening and testing of donors and blood products, and that therefore, Hospital had met its duty of care by investigating and using the reputable Institute as supplier of its blood products.

Appellants requested additional time to respond to the Appellees’ motions for summary judgment, which the Trial Court granted, and Appellants deposed Dr. G. At his deposition, Dr. G. stated that an FDA approved test for AIDS virus was not available until March, 1985, and reiterated that no tests existed at the pertinent time in 1984 to detect AIDS infected donors and/or blood products. Dr. G. also asserted that Institute met all screening and testing requirements of the FDA and the American Association of Blood Banks, and exceeded those mandates by requiring potential donors to review AIDS information and requesting donor self-exclusion if the donor fell within one of the at-risk categories. Dr. G. admitted, however, that Institute did not perform two “surrogate marker” tests then being employed on a temporary basis by two blood suppliers in California. 1 Dr. G. asserted that Institute did not employ the “surrogate marker” tests because surrogate tests were non-specific and not definitive, 2 resulting in rejection of viable and safe donors and blood without specific reason therefor, and consequently diminishing the available blood supply for transfusion needs.

Appellants then filed their responses to Appellees’ motions for summary judgment. In response to that of Institute, and relying on the Oklahoma case of Gilmore v. St. Anthony Hospital, 598 P.2d 1200 (Okl.1979), Appellants asserted that Dr. G.’s testimony that no other tests existed at the time did not constitute an absolute defense to Appellants’ action, and that Dr. G.’s admission that Institute employed neither the anti-hepatitis B core antibody test nor the T4/T8 test created an unresolved issue of fact as to Institute’s duty of care and/or breach of that duty, precluding summary judgment. Appellants also argued that Institute’s policy of requesting donor self-exclusion, especially in voluntary group do *1001 nations during which the instant infected blood product was obtained, was insufficient for the purpose of excluding potentially at-risk donors and donations. 3 Appellants additionally asserted that 63 O.S. § 2151 amounted to a constitutionally prohibited special law under the Oklahoma Constitution, Article V, § 46, and violated the due process protections of Article II, § 7.

In response to Hospital’s assertion of lack of evidence of Hospital’s negligence in the transmission of the AIDS virus to Appellant Earl Goss, Appellants’ submitted the affidavit of Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
856 P.2d 998, 1990 Okla. Civ. App. LEXIS 133, 1990 WL 504280, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/goss-v-oklahoma-blood-institute-oklacivapp-1990.