Boy’s Aunt Sues Physician on Coagulant

The aunt of Channon Phipps of El Toro, 11, the hemophiliac who was discovered to have AIDS antibodies in his blood, on Thursday sued the University of California Board of Regents, a UC Irvine physician and a laboratory, alleging Channon was forced to use an inferior coagulant.

Deborha Phipps claimed in her suit that the physician treating her nephew knew that a properly treated blood-thinning concentrate was available but refused to prescribe it. Instead, the suit says, the doctor coerced her into purchasing an inferior product at UC Irvine Medical Center’s pharmacy.

Named in the suit, which seeks medical expenses as well as $1 million in punitive damages, are Dr. Jacob Katz, who is a member of the faculty at UC Irvine College of Medicine, the UC Regents, who own and operate the hospital, and Cutter Laboratories Inc., manufacturer of Koate, a plasma-derived coagulant.

Phipps, reached at her El Toro home Thursday, said the doctor refused to write a prescription that would have allowed her to buy a heat-treated brand of coagulant from the pharmacy of her choice. Instead, she said, Katz insisted she purchase the prescription only from the medical center’s pharmacy. That pharmacy, she said, carried only the Cutter Laboratories product.

Phipps’ suit also charged that Cutter Laboratories failed to use proper procedures, including heat treatment, to kill or render benign any acquired immune deficiency syndrome virus that might be present in the coagulant.

Plaintiff’s View

Phipps said she believes the defendants were concerned that the heat-treated concentrate “might not have been as strong, that there was not enough medical proof that the pasteurizing process wouldn’t have damaged the blood-clotting (strength). . . .”

But, she said, “the choice was taken away from me. I could have . . . gotten the heat-treated (concentrate) on my own, even from the manufacturer, but I was not given that choice because the doctors took it away from me. It wasn’t the doctors that told me to start using the heat-treated concentrate, it was the Hemophilia Foundation of Southern California.”

Additionally, Phipps contended that she and Channon were not told of the dangers involved in using Koate.

Katz declined to comment Thursday night. UCI spokeswoman Kathy Jones also declined comment on the suit. “This is the first I’ve heard of it,” she said. UC Regent Stanley Sheinbaum, contacted at home, said he knew nothing about the case.