Say WHAT?!?!?

False diagnosis of HIV discovered after eight years

Yes-- you read that right. A man named Jim Malone was tested for the AIDS virus in 1996. His first test came back positive. After he received the results-- he decided to seek treatment at a local VA Hospital. When he first went to the VA Hospital, he told them that he had tested positive for the HIV virus, and the VA promptly ran their own test. (This is standard protocol.) Shortly thereafter-- the VA's results on Malone's AIDS test came back-- Mr. Malone, was NOT infected with HIV.

Unfortunately-- nobody at the VA Hospital *told* Mr. Malone that.

This is so sickening, it makes me want to head to the bathroom and well-- you get the idea. I have lost friends to the AIDS virus, and let me tell you-- it is *NOT* the disease that kills them. The disease breaks their spirit, makes them believe there is no hope, gives them NO reason to live on. And while I would like to sit here and say that I treated my friends no differently regardless of their AIDS status, I cannot.

I *did* judge them.. just a little bit. Not in a bad way-- but just in a "I'm-a-little-scared-and-while-I-know-my-feelings-are-valid-I-still-feel-like-a-heel-for-feeling-this-way" kind of way.

As I am sure that people who know Mr. Malone did as well. That does not make them bad people. It makes them human. These kinds of actions are *forgivable*.. people are usually trying to deal with this the best way they can.

What the VA Hospital did is in NO way forgivable. They should be ashamed. I'm sure they are.. but the doctor's mealy-mouthed apology to Mr. Malone doesn't mean *JACK* right now! That man spent 8 years believing that he had an illness that was going to kill him. And worse off-- he had an illness that he *knew* there was no cure for. There are no words for this kind of atrocity.

To basically "sentence a man to death".. and then 8 years later, mumble a "Hey-- that must have slipped through the cracks," is completely ludicrous!! I mean-- jeez-- when a prisoner is wrongfully sentenced to prison, or death row-- at least when they get their "apology" from the State of wherever, there is a nice little check that they receive. Obviously-- a lot of these people go on to sue the prosecutors for further compensatory damages-- and for some of them-- I completely agree. And others-- I think it gets a little ridiculous.

I have no place to speak about stuff like that-- because I've never known anyone in prison who was wrongfully accused and served massive amounts of time for said mistake. But I digress.

I do not usually agree with lawsuits levied at major corporations. I think that a lot of people in this country have gotten really "lawsuit happy" and are just looking for *any* way to make a quick buck. Here's a tip to the people who are just looking for the "easy way out".. if you spent 1/2 as much time educating yourself as you did *making up* said lawsuit-- you wouldn't need a big fat settlement.. you'd be getting a BIG FAT PAYCHECK every two weeks.

But in the case of Mr. Malone-- I wholeheartedly believe that this man should take the VA for every penny they are worth. These people ruined his life.

Think about how differently you would live your life, if in fact, you were told that you basically had nothing to live for? That you had a disease that would ravage your body and tear you apart piece by piece. What if you watched close friends and loved ones (as Mr. Malone did) die of the very disease you *believed* was killing you.

To quote "Reality Bites", a lovely little '90s flick.. "Every time I sneeze, it's like I'm one sneeze away from the hospice."

That is exactly how you would feel. You would not plan for your future, you would not set money aside for vacations, NOTHING. All the little things that make us human and make life worth living would just be HUGE, FLASHING "You're-gonna-die" signs.

Mr. Malone, I feel for you and I hope that you are able to find some kind of comfort in the fact that you are not, in fact, dying. I understand how confusing this must be for you. On one hand-- you must be overjoyed that you are going to live out your life and *not* die an AIDS-related death, but at the same time-- I imagine you are grappling for *what* to do now. You have been given life again-- after having it savagely ripped away from you for 8 years. You certainly must be wondering where you will go now, what the next step will be.

Allow me to give you a gentle push in the right direction.

"Your honor, in the case of Mr. Jim Malone vs. The Veterans Administration.. I now call Jim Malone to the stand."

Go get 'em, Jim! Go get 'em!