Inter-American Court of Human Rights Holds Ecuador Responsible in Case of Child Infected With HIV After Blood Transfusions (September 18, 2015) [1]
On September 1, 2015, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Court) issued its decision [3] (available only in Spanish) in Gonzales Lluy v. Ecuador, finding the Ecuador responsible for violations of the human rights of Talia Lluy, a child infected with HIV after a blood transfusion. Lluy had received blood from the Ecuadorian Red Cross’s blood bank, which led to infection with HIV and resulting damage to her health. The Court ruled that the failure of proper testing by the blood bank was attributable to the state of Ecuador, as the state has an obligation to supervise and monitor both public hospitals and private entities in the health care sector. Because Ecuador had been negligent in its supervisory duties, it had violated Articles 4 (right to life) and 5 (right to humane treatment) of the American Convention on Human Rights [4] (Convention). The Court distinguished the infringement of human rights of Talia’s family, who had been subject to social stigmatization and discrimination, such as a repeated loss of employment, resulting from their family relationship with Talia. This situation lead to severe economic hardship and alienation of the family members, who received no help from authorities. The Court decided their rights to personal integrity under Article 5 of the Convention had been violated by the state’s failure to respond when the Lluy family addressed themselves to the authorities. Finally, the Court decided that Talia’s right to education under Article 13 of the Additional Protocol [5] of the Convention was violated when she was expelled from school after teachers had learnt of her infection. Noting that the school had to balance the interests of the other students with Talia’s right to education, the Court concluded that the school had adopted the most restrictive and disproportionate measure.