Opinion ID: 771982
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: HIV Tests and Aftermath

Text: 6 After learning that a person with whom he had been intimate tested HIV-positive, Baker visited Dr. Michael Mullen at Cabrini Hospital in New York City to take an HIV test. Dr. Mullen sent Baker's blood sample to a testing laboratory operated by the Department of Health of the City of New York (DOH). On April 20, 1993, Baker was told that the test result was positive. 7 As a result, Baker suffered deepening depression, withdrew from his friends and former life, and lost self-confidence. The diagnosis shot [him] . . . to the bottom. He lost weight, had trouble sleeping, and spent weekends abed. He continued to work as an interior designer, but lost ambition and energy, stopped working overtime, lost his freelance design clients, and shelved plans to start his own design firm. 8 In January 1994, DOH advised Dr. Mullen that Baker should be retested because his blood sample was tested by DOH on a bad day. On January 17, 1994--nine months after he received his original test result--Baker learned that the retest result was negative. Skeptical about the reliability of the retest, and fearful that in reliance on the earlier test he may have placed himself at risk, Baker took several more HIV tests. Each confirmed that he was HIV-negative. 1 9 Even after Baker got the good news, his depression continued to deepen, he became angry and listless, and though he sought psychiatric counseling, he was unable to resume his prior life. In mid-1994, Baker quit his job; by year end, he moved home to Iowa and eventually took a job. 10