WESTFIELD (WWLP) – If you are one of the 293 patients who was possibly exposed to blood-borne diseases at the Baystate Noble Hospital, 22News found out what you’re legal rights are.
Springfield Attorney Ryan Alekman said his office had already received a phone call on Friday from someone who’s at risk. We showed Attorney Alekman the official documents from Baystate Noble and asked him what legal advice he had for those who might be affected.
“Legally, if someone negligently exposes you to a disease clearly there is a claim that can be made for that person,” Alekman said.
Alekman said even if the tests for either hepatitis or HIV come back negative, there may still be grounds for legal action.
“It’s scary,” he said. “Just getting a letter that says you may have been exposed to a very, very serious disease because of our negligence. So yeah, those people could potentially have an actionable claim, even if they weren’t infected.”
Alekman said another big area of concern is the fact that the patients were just notified of their risk, more than three years after their procedures. That means if someone were infected, and they didn’t know, the disease could have spread.
“If somebody was either infected with hepatitis or HIV and they expose other people to hepatitis or HIV it could go on indefinitely,” Alekman said.
