The Director of National Blood Service, Korle-Bu, Dr. Justina Ansah has denied allegations that she declared her former driver HIV positive.
She said test results concerning the plaintiff, Edward Kofi Ghunney were treated with utmost confidentiality.
Mr. Ghunney sued Dr. Ansah in 2017 for alleging that he tested HIV positive and subsequently stopped him from carrying out his official duty as her driver.
The defendant entered an appearance last year and later filed her defence, contending that the plaintiff’s claims were false.
Dr. Ansah submitted that she is a qualified medical practitioner who is conversant with the mode of transmission of HIV and has no motive to discriminate against the plaintiff based on his status.
She denied the claims by Mr. Ghunney that she declared him HIV positive and said he consented to be counselled.
According to Dr. Ansah, a routine monitoring and evaluation regarding the epidemiology of screening results of voluntary donors revealed that donation unit NM140110084 was reported as “indeterminate”.
She described Mr. Ghunney’s claim for compensation as baseless and urged the court to reject his argument.
But Mr. Edward Kofi Ghunney stated that his demand for a compensation of GH¢200,000 from his former boss was not baseless.
The plaintiff in his response said his former boss breached the standard practice of the medical profession, arguing that the entire averments of Dr. Ansah’s defence were set out to ridicule and stigmatise him.
Mr. Ghunney argued that the conduct of Dr. Ansah forced him to request for a transfer to the Disease Surveillance Department because his friends at the Blood Service whom he shared meals with treated him like a plague infested person.
Mr. Ghunney said he was a voluntary donor and had donated 24 times until the last donation on July 25 when Dr. Ansah invited him in her office and asked “bizarre” questions about his family.
He said on December 1, 2014, the defendant informed him that he was HIV positive, and on December 2, 2014, the Director of Blood Service challenged him to submit himself for fresh tests at Reference and Central laboratories and he obliged.
He said although the results proved negative, he further took another test at the Fevers Unit of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital which proved negative.
He said the action of the defendant in declaring him as an HIV positive was just because of a privilege information she had received that the plaintiff’s ex-wife tested HIV positive in 2008.
The plaintiff said his former boss ignored his letter for apology and compensation for GH¢120,000.
Driver sues boss for allegedly branding him HIV positive
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