Doe v. Northwestern University

Northwestern University (defendant) provided dental services performed by students at Northwestern’s dental clinic. After discovering that one of the students providing dental care had HIV, the virus that caused AIDS, Northwestern sent a letter to everyone who had received dental care at the clinic informing them that one of the dental students had tested positive for HIV. The letter stated that the risk of any of the patients being infected with HIV as a result of the treatment was extremely low due to the precautions taken by the students that were designed to prevent the communication of diseases, including HIV. Attorneys for six of the patients (the patients) (plaintiffs) determined the identity of the HIV-positive student. The patients had all received treatment from the student, including some treatments involving extensive physical contact with the mouths of the patients. Several of the patients had bled during the treatments. The patients sued Northwestern for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, intentional infliction of emotional distress, breach of contract, and medical malpractice. The patients conceded that none of them had tested positive for HIV. However, they alleged that they had suffered damages in the form of physical distress and mental pain and anguish upon learning of the possibility that they had been infected with HIV. Northwestern presented studies showing that the chance of HIV transmission during medical treatment was very small. The court dismissed the lawsuit on the ground that the patients had failed to allege that they had been actually exposed to HIV. The patients appealed.