Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0019163 (hepatitis B)
 38,309 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A medical courier who was exposed to blood from a leaking container will be granted a jury trial in Albuquerque, NM. Courier [name removed] was splashed with blood and became alarmed because she had paper cuts on her hands. Repeated blood tests for HIV and hepatitis B were negative. A Bernallilo County judge initially dismissed [name removed]'s lawsuit when the hospital revealed that there was no HIV present in the splashed liquid. A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals ruled to allow [name removed] a jury trial because New Mexico law no longer requires a plaintiff to prove that the defendant's actions created actual danger or physical impact. The panel determined that [name removed]'s allegations stated a cause for negligent infliction of emotional distress.
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PMID:Court grants courier a jury trial based on fear of AIDS. 1136 18

U.S. District Judge Robert S. Gawthrop III of Pennsylvania ruled that fear of contracting HIV is cause for legal action if the claim originates from physical injury linked to virus exposure. Nurse [name removed] may continue her case against Abbott Laboratories for product liability and emotional distress. [Name removed] was punctured with a needle by an IV system used to administer intravenous antibiotics to an AIDS/hepatitis B patient. The system was marketed as needleless. While [name removed] never tested positive for HIV or hepatitis B, she claims that Abbott was negligent and should compensate her for her fear of contracting HIV. Abbott argued that Pennsylvania has a history of court decisions rejecting fear as a cause of action. Judge Gawthrop said this history did not apply because [name removed]'s fear of AIDS arose from the direct physical impact of the needle.
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PMID:Judge allows recovery for fear of AIDS if injury occurs. 1136 75

A spouse of a St. [Name removed] Hospital employee has been barred from recovering emotional distress damages for fear of AIDS unless she alleges that there was a channel for infection. [Name removed] sued the Alexandria, LA hospital for negligent infliction of emotional distress after her husband, [name removed], suffered a needle puncture. He was not immediately informed that the needle that he found in a trash can meant for nonhazardous waste might have been infected with HIV or hepatitis B. The trial judge refused the hospital's request to dismiss Ms. [Name removed]'s motion for failure to state cause of action. The Court of Appeal reversed that decision. Ms. [Name removed] has refused to engage in sexual relations with her husband since the incident. Her claims were judged to be insufficient to establish a case of action.
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PMID:Plaintiff must show a 'channel for infection' to recover damages. 1136 4

An appeals court in Missouri ruled that a plaintiff must show actual exposure to HIV if he is to prevail in fear-of-AIDS claims. The case concerned a hemophiliac, [name removed], who received a blood clotting product prior to surgery. [Name removed] asked for Recombinant Factor VIII, a synthetic compound, to lessen the risk of HIV or hepatitis B infection. However, he was given the regular medicine, derived from the plasma obtained from thousands of donors, by his doctor, [name removed]. Although [name removed] has repeatedly tested negative, he claimed emotional distress and sued several parties for negligent infliction of emotional distress. The court ruling says that unless a plaintiff demonstrates a scientifically accepted method of transmission, the fear of AIDS is not legally compensable.
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PMID:Missouri requires actual exposure for recovery of damages. 1136 65

A Louisiana court ruled that the parents of a toddler stuck accidentally by a needle cannot recover damages for fear of AIDS; the child is entitled to damages. [Name removed] and [name removed], parents of [name removed], claimed negligent infliction of emotional distress when [name removed] was stuck by a contaminated needle at the Allen Parish Health Unit when he reached into a container holding used needles. The facility immediately tested him for HIV and hepatitis B, and he has tested negative for both for the past six years. In their suit, the [name removed] allege that the incident left them in a state of extreme anxiety that diminished their love for their child. Winfield Industries, the manufacturer of the container holding the needle, settled out of court. The court agreed that the parents had some basis for fearing their son contracted HIV or other infectious diseases since the health department did not try to determine if any HIV-positive people may have used those needles. However, it found that their claims were neither serious nor genuine, and found it unreasonable to fear exposure after six years of negative test results.
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PMID:Parents can't recover damages from infant's needlestick. 1136 21

Recently multiple individual vaccines were put together into one syringe. This is ideal to simplify the administration of vaccines and reduce emotional distress from multiple injections. However, combination of many vaccines may interfere with the properties of each individual antigen and complicate the schedule. From earlier studies, most of the combinations of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (whole-cell) vaccine (DTPw), Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine (Hib), hepatitis B vaccine (HBV), and inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) were safe and adequately immunogenic. On the other hand, there was a notable reduction in anti-PRP when Hib was combined with acellular pertussis vaccine (DTPa). Combination of hepatitis A vaccine and HBV was safe and effective. Those coming soon in the pipeline are DTPa-Hib-HBV, MMR-varicella, pneumococcal-meningococcal. With the increase in demand, health-care providers need to be acquainted to these combination vaccines. The bottom line is to make sure that the children get vaccination appropriately.
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PMID:Combination vaccines. 1240 49

Best evidence from prospective studies with aggressive monitoring suggests that the incidence of needlestick injuries is significantly higher than reported through passive surveillance, ranging from 14 to 839 needlestick injuries per 1,000 health care workers per year. The economic cost of managing these injuries is substantial, ranging from dollars 51 to dollars 3,766 (2002 U.S. dollars). This amount excludes the cost of treating the long-term complications of needlestick injuries, such as HIV and hepatitis B and C infections, each of which can cost several hundreds of thousands of dollars to manage. In addition, health care workers experience significant fear, anxiety, and emotional distress following a needlestick injury, sometimes resulting in occupational and behavior changes. Despite the availability of engineered injury prevention devices, the implementation of these new technologies has been mixed in part because of the perception that these devices are costly and cost ineffective. However, widespread use of safety devices might be more easily justified on economic grounds when the full clinical and economic benefits of these new technologies are considered, especially within the context of injury prevention.
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PMID:Needlestick injuries in the United States. Epidemiologic, economic, and quality of life issues. 1578 67

Complex regional pain syndrome type I (CRPS I) is a disorder of one or more extremities characterized by pain, abnormal sensitivity (allodynia), swelling, limited range of motion, vasomotor instability, fatigue and emotional distress. The symptoms may be aggravated by even minor activity or weather change. It is usually provoked by injury, surgery or injection but in a small proportion of patients CRPS I develops without a clear causative event. There are several literature reports on CRPS after rubella and hepatitis B vaccination. We present a case of CRPS I affecting the left arm after diphtheria and tetanus (Di-Te) vaccination in the left deltoid muscle in a young girl having experienced profound emotional stress before the vaccination procedure. History data on previous minor trauma at the site of vaccination or emotional stress may necessitate temporary vaccination delay due to their proneness to impaired local or systemic immune response and CRPS as a complication of vaccination. If a child or an adult has prominent swelling and severe pain after vaccination, the diagnosis of CRPS I should be considered and if confirmed, the multidisciplinary treatment should start as soon as possible.
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PMID:Complex regional pain syndrome type I after diphtheria-tetanus (Di-Te) vaccination. 2430 53