August 1, 2012

Tennessee Man Loses Wife, Job After False HIV-Positive Test

A Tennessee man has lost his job and separated from his wife after receiving a false positive from an HIV test, reports News Channel 5. Sean Smith, a 47-year-old from Goodlettsville, said that while he tried to donate plasma at a local center, the staff ran his information through a national database and informed him he was HIV positive (and therefore unable to give blood). Smith assumed the information was correct and that it derived from a previous instance when he donated plasma. He decided to disclose his status, a move that cost him his job and marriage. Since then, Smith has tested negative for HIV and is now trying to remove the false information from the database.

To read the News Channel 5 article, click here.

Search: Tennessee, HIV, blood donation, database, job, marriage, discrimination

Scroll down to comment on this story.

Previous Comments:

Patty Puline, Erie, PA, 2012-08-02 11:13:05
As an AIDS educator and activist for eighteen years, it is a constant reminder to people that a DONATION is NOT a blood test. ALWAYS BE TESTED before you donate blood. That is the only way to know for sure if you are HIV positive. Through years of testing people, I only give results after running the test THREE times, the ELISA, the REPEAT ELISA and Western Blot confirmatory test. Makes sense to do it right the first time. They had no right to tell him he was HIV positive when no test was run.

Jerome, Houston, TX, 2012-08-02 11:00:41
This story is VERY unsatisfying. While it clearly explains why his wife left him it doesn't explain why it cost him his job. ... The story doesn't even explain what his job was, if it is legal to fire someone because of their HIV status or what the rules are that maintain an inaccurate database. Bad reporting all around.