United Blood Services v. Quintana
Colorado Supreme Court
827 P.2d 509 (1992)
- Written by Haley Gintis, JD
Facts
In 1983 Susie Quintana (plaintiff) contracted AIDS from a blood transfusion. United Blood Services (the blood bank) (defendant) provided the infected blood. Susie and her husband, Chris (plaintiff), sued the blood bank for negligence. The Quintanas sought to introduce expert witnesses to testify that the screening and testing procedures adopted by blood banks were not sufficient to guard against AIDS infections and that blood banks were aware of additional steps that could be utilized to screen for AIDS infections. The trial court excluded the evidence on the ground that compliance with the professional standard of care conclusively established a lack of negligence. Therefore, if the blood bank satisfied the professional standard of care, it could not be found negligent. The jury found that the blood bank satisfied the professional standard of care and returned a verdict in its favor. The Quintanas appealed. The Colorado Court of Appeals reversed the trial court on the ground that the blood bank’s actions should have been measured against an ordinary reasonable standard of care rather than the imposed professional standard of care. The matter was appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Quinn, J.)
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