§ 68-32-102 — Facilities to test for AIDS - Contaminated blood - Cause of action for AIDS infection from untested blood

(a) All facilities collecting fresh human blood or plasma directly from an individual donor shall have the blood or plasma tested for the potential presence of the causative agent for acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). (b) Any blood shown by appropriate medical testing to be potentially contaminated by the causative agent for AIDS shall not be used for transfusions, or for any other purposes that may pose a threat of transmission of the virus. (c) Any person who contracts AIDS from any contaminated blood or blood product shall have a cause of action for damages, including all medical expenses, against any facility supplying untested blood, if the person can establish that such person received any untested blood, or blood product derived from untested blood, from the supplier. (d) This section shall not apply in those emergency situations where the attending physician determines that failure to transfuse will be life threatening to the patient.

Legislative History

Acts 1986, ch. 561, § 1.