Jinja -The High Court in Jinja has awarded Shs190 million in damages to a man who was wrongly diagnosed with HIV and placed on antiretroviral therapy (ART) for seven years.
In her landmark judgment, Justice Joanita Bashara ruled in favour of Mr Wetaka John in a suit against The AIDS Support Organization (TASO), holding that the institution negligently diagnosed him as HIV positive in 2016 and subjected him to prolonged treatment without proper confirmatory testing.
Court records show that Mr Wetaka voluntarily sought HIV testing at TASO Jinja in July 2016. He was informed that he was HIV positive and was immediately enrolled on ART. He remained on medication until 2023.
Evidence presented before court indicated that TASO registered him under number JIN:1604268 and consistently dispensed ARVs over the years. However, in 2022, when Mr Wetaka attempted to access benefits from the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) under a scheme for people living with HIV, independent tests—including a PCR test—returned negative results.
Further tests conducted by MBN Clinical Laboratories and later by TASO itself confirmed that he was HIV negative. A letter dated January 23, 2023 from TASO communicated the negative result.
Mr Wetaka told court that during the years he was on medication, he suffered severe side effects including excessive sleep, dizziness, and weakness, which affected his performance as an askari and storekeeper. He testified that despite repeatedly reporting the symptoms during routine reviews, he was advised to continue with treatment.
He further stated that the misdiagnosis led to the breakdown of his marriage, loss of employment, social isolation, and significant psychological trauma.
In determining the matter, Justice Bashara found that TASO failed to carry out a mandatory confirmatory test 14 days after the initial positive result as required under World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines applicable at the time.
“The issue is not whether ARVs are appropriate for HIV-positive persons,” the judge observed. “It is whether it was reasonable to initiate this particular plaintiff on ART without the required confirmatory retesting after obtaining inconclusive results.”
The court held that TASO’s conduct amounted to common-law negligence and contravened Section 17 of the HIV and AIDS Prevention and Control Act, thereby constituting a civil wrong.
Citing the decision in Cassidy v Ministry of Health, Justice Bashara emphasized that medical institutions owe a duty to ensure that treatment corresponds to a patient’s actual condition, and that where the foundational diagnosis is flawed, continued treatment becomes wrongful.
The court also referenced Bonnington Casting Ltd v Wardlaw on causation, holding that the misdiagnosis materially contributed to the harm suffered by the plaintiff.
In her ruling, Justice Bashara rejected TASO’s argument that the plaintiff’s loss of employment was due to the COVID-19 pandemic and low salary, finding his testimony credible that medication side effects impaired his ability to perform night duties.
The court awarded Mr Wetaka Shs140 million in general damages and Shs50 million in aggravated damages, with interest at 10 percent per annum from the date of judgment until full payment.
Additionally, the court issued declarations that TASO negligently diagnosed the plaintiff as HIV positive in 2016 and negligently dispensed ARVs to him from 2016 to 2023.
In her concluding remarks, Justice Bashara warned against blind reliance on procedure at the expense of professional judgment.
“Guidelines are servants of medicine, not its masters,” she noted, adding that when liberty, family life and identity are at stake, specialist institutions must exercise vigilance beyond routine practice.
The judgment is expected to have significant implications for HIV testing protocols and institutional accountability in Uganda’s healthcare sector.
