Estate of Amos v. Vanderbilt Univ.,
No. 90C-4158 (Tenn. Dec. 20, 2001)

A patient received blood tainted with the HIV virus during surgery in 1984, prior to the routine blood screenings common today. In 1987, the hospital where the woman received the blood began to test patients who had received blood, but never sent the patient a notice that she may have been exposed and should be tested for HIV. The patient later married and gave birth to a daughter who had become infected with HIV in utero. The patient and child died and the husband sued the hospital on behalf of his wife's estate and himself. The appeals court overturned a substantial jury verdict because the husband did not provide special proof of emotional distress without injury. The husband appealed.

The Supreme Court of Tennessee reinstated the jury verdict. The court ruled that special proof was only required in "stand alone" cases where emotional distress is the only charge. This is to alleviate the possibility of fraud. In this case, however, there were two additional charges against the hospital, namely wrongful birth and failure to warn. Additionally, the court ruled that it was foreseeable that the patient would marry and have a family and therefore there was a duty to warn the patient that she may have been infected with a deadly and contagious disease.