Melo v. Barnett

GRAVES, Justice.

This matter comes to this Court on discretionary review of a claim for breach of medical confidentiality and unreasonable violation of privacy by an HIV positive patient seeking damages from a consulting physician for disclosing his HIV status in a medical record which was forwarded to the employer.

During the course of his employment as a veterinary assistant, Appellee, Steven Barnett, was bitten by a cat. After developing an infection, he was admitted to the hospital where the treating physician diagnosed cellulitis and prescribed antibiotics. Because Barnett was HIV…