Palsgraf Flashback - We haven't covered an HIV-disclosure case in a long time here at the Bhaus, so it's a good time to note this bizarre Chicago Tribune story.

I've advocated before that HIV-positive people need to disclose their status to their sex partners. Now here is a case where the parents of a poz man lied and misrepresented to his fiance why he was sick. While the two never married, they did have unprotected sex and the bride-to-be went three years before she knew she had been infected. Now she has a jury award of $2 million against the deceased groom's elderly parents.

While novel, the outcome demonstrates that, even where there is no statute requiring disclosure of HIV status, individuals may be civilly liable for negligent or intentional actions - in this case concealment or misrepresentation of a communicable disease - that result in harm. This maxim is no less true for this unusual medical injury than it is for business fraud. Anyone can be held responsible for the foreseeable consequences that are proximate result of his or her actions.

UPDATE: As it happens, the Virginia General Assembly is poised to pass a law making it a class 6 felony to have sex without disclosing that you're HIV+ (assuming you know).