19-year-old man from Tamil Nadu, who unknowingly donated HIV-positive blood to pregnant woman in Sattur, commits suicide

The 19-year-old man who had unknowingly donated HIV-infected blood that was later transfused into a pregnant woman in Tamil Nadu’s Sattur died on Sunday morning at Rajaji Government Hospital in Madurai. The donor had attempted suicide by consuming rat poison on Wednesday, The News Minute reported. He was first taken to Ramanathapuram Government Hospital after his suicide attempt, but was later transferred to a hospital in Madurai for treatment after his condition deteriorated, The News Minute quoted a police officer as saying. The 19-year-old recently found out that he was HIV positive during a routine medical examination part of a visa application process. He immediately informed authorities about recently having donated blood, which was then traced to the Sattur hospital where a 24-year-old pregnant woman from Tamil Nadu’s Virudhunagar district was transfused the blood. [caption id=“attachment_4060725” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Unable to handle the guilt, the 19-year-old drank rat poison on Wednesday to commit suicide. The woman was informed about the blunder and called back to the hospital, where she is undergoing anti-retroviral therapy in a bid to keep the concentration of the virus low in the blood and prevent the onset of AIDS. The hospital is bearing all the expenses for her treatment due to its negligence. The donated blood was meant for a relative of the 19-year-old, but was stored in the hospital’s blood bank after it was not used and incorrectly marked ‘safe’ by lab technicians. An employee of the blood bank attached to the government hospital in Sattur was dismissed, and two others were suspended. On 3 December, doctors had advised the woman — pregnant with her second child — to have a blood transfusion as she was anaemic due to haemoglobin deficiency. It came to light four days later that she was been given HIV-positive blood incorrectly marked safe for transfusions. The Dean of Rajaji hospital Dr Shanmuga Sundaram told The NewsMinute that the 19-year-old died of complications from his suicide attempt. “He died at 8.10 am due to bleeding, a known complication of this kind of poison ingestion,” he said. “His family has yet to claim the body. He was treated in our hospital from 27 December.”