A woman on a Celebrity Cruises ship is suing the cruise line after the ship’s medical personnel reportedly gave her a blood transfusion from an HIV-positive donor, causing her to contract the infection.
The lady, who has not been identified, claims she received the emergency treatment while on a seven-day cruise that departed on December 4 of last year, according to a federal lawsuit seeking unspecified damages from the corporation.
However, she claims that on day five, she fell unwell and was advised by physicians to go to the ship’s infirmary. Doctors determined that she had experienced a rectal hemorrhage, which had resulted in serious bleeding.
The woman says staffers then told her condition was more serious than initially though, and that she required a emergency transfusion immediately – or risk dying.
Coaxed into getting the procedure, she says, medical officials then reportedly solicited blood from passengers over the ship’s PA system, finding four willing donors that matched the woman’s Type A-negative blood type.
The procedure then went through, the woman says, with doctors successfully stopping the bleeding, and the woman finishing the final two days of the voyage.
Sometime later, however, the woman says she tested positive for HIV – and she is adamant it’s because of the transfusion.
She says the blood given to her was not properly screened by staffers, and says she’s been left with the lifelong, incurable medical condition as a result.
In her suit, she says the Celebrity Cruises should be held accountable for the alleged error – even though staffers sat the procedure saved her life.
It is not clear from the documents exactly when she received her diagnosis. It is also unknown if she has begun treatment or what her current medical condition is.
HIV, while incurable, is treatable – but can lead to a variety of other harmful medical conditions.
Celebrity Cruises confirmed to DailyMail.com Thursday that the procedure detailed in the woman’s lawsuit did take place, and that they are ‘looking into’ the allegations.
‘We can confirm that we successfully performed a lifesaving medical procedure for this guest,’ Susan Lomax, head of communications for the luxury liner, said in an email.
‘We are looking into the allegations contained in the complaint and have nothing further to add at this point.’
The passenger, who is adamant the blood is to blame. is suing for unspecified damages. The suit did not reveal which specific cruise on which the incident occurred.