Florida Woman Arrested For Prostitution While Knowingly HIV Infected

On Wednesday night, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office arrested a woman who informed officers that she was infected with the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV and has been working as a prostitute while knowingly having this deadly disease. Michelle Weissman was busted during a prostitution sting and said that she contracted the HIV disease three years ago, according to The Palm Beach Post News. In 2009, the latest available statistics compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were an estimated 6,120 persons in the state of Florida with a diagnosis of the HIV infection, regardless of the stage of the disease at diagnosis. HIV is deadly virus that causes the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

Sadly, many people living with a Fort Lauderdale HIV infection will face humility and discrimination when they disclose to others their medical conditions. But, the state of Florida makes it illegal to knowingly transmit this virus to a sexual partner without disclosing to them about the HIV status, and without out a sexual partner’s consent to engage in sexual activities with an infected partner. Further, under Florida law, a person who commits or offers an act of prostitution while infected with the HIV disease and fails to notify a sexual partner could be convicted of criminal transmission of HIV.  Also, across the nation, many states not only have criminal HIV transmission laws, but in some jurisdictions a person who becomes infected without their consent could also have a legal claim by filing a personal injury lawsuit.

Our Fort Lauderdale personal injury lawyers recognize that the spread of HIV epidemic is a prevailing problem in Florida. In 2009, Broward County ranked number two in the nation, the 2^ND highest in the number of new AIDS cases per capita diagnosed in that year. Additionally, approximately 125,000 people, or an estimated 11.7 percent of the national total, people with the HIV disease lived in Florida. Nonetheless, the Florida Supreme Court has held that a person infected with HIV can sue to recover damages in a civil suit when their HIV status is wrongfully disclosed. This means that if a medical provider, employees of a health care facility, insurance company, another person or an entity which has a need to know, discloses a person’s HIV status without their consent, they could be held liable and have to pay the infected person damages for the harm resulting from the wrongful disclosure. Specifically, the Supreme Court in Florida Department of Corrections v. Abril (2007) held, "an entity that negligently and unlawfully violates a patient's right of confidentiality and privacy disclosing the results of HIV testing of the patient may be held responsible in a civil action for damages caused to the patient by unlawful disclosure" [Florida Department of Corrections v. Abril, 969 So. 2d 201, 206 (Fla. 2007).

But on the other hand,  since there are a myriad of legal issues involved, including possible negligence,  when one has been exposed to the HIV disease, for example while in a healthcare or hospital setting, and are injured as a result, then a FortLauderdale medical malpractice attorney could become involved in your case. You should contact an attorney immediately after you have become aware of an exposure, and especially if you have signs and symptoms of an incurable disease such as HIV because there have been a number of cases in which a person or a family member has become seriously ill or event worst, died as a result of someone’s negligence.

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