San Diego

An embalmer who fears getting AIDS from a victim of the disease whose body he embalmed is suing a hospital for allegedly not telling him the patient’s cause of death.

Robert Ghyers, 52, has no symptoms of AIDS but fears getting the fatal disease because his hands had cuts on them when he embalmed the body of an AIDS victim, his attorney said Thursday.

“The man has been shaken up. It’s constantly preying on his mind,” attorney E. Philip Michaels said.

The San Diego Superior Court suit was filed last week against Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla and seeks more than $25,000.

“In the highly contagious type of situations . . . they’re supposed to have all sorts of information about the cause of death. They red tag the body bag,” Michaels said.

The suit alleges that the hospital recklessly and carelessly did not give the information to the Pacific Beach mortuary where Ghyers works.

The unidentified male patient died Oct. 13, 1985, at age 56, only six months after being diagnosed as having acquired immune deficiency syndrome, Michaels said.

A hospital spokeswoman said Thursday that officials there have not seen the lawsuit. “Until it’s been served, we won’t make a comment,” spokeswoman Diane Yohe said.

Michaels said a specific dollar amount has not been set because it’s not known if Ghyers will come down with the disease. He lives in Santee, is married and has teen-age children.