California IN BRIEF : SAN FRANCISCO : Suits OKd Over AIDS From Tainted Drugs

Hemophiliacs who say they got the AIDS virus from a blood-clotting agent can sue several pharmaceutical companies and the U.S. government, a federal appeals court ruled. The ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned earlier judgments in Hawaii that favored Cutter Biological Inc., Miles Laboratories Inc., Travenol Laboratories Inc., Armour Pharmaceutical Corp., Alpha Therapeutic Corp. and the government. The plaintiffs, identified only as John Doe and John Smith, said they were infected with the virus after receiving the agent Factor VIII at Tripler Army Medical Center. In separate suits, the two sued the companies for negligence and strict liability. The firms were the only American makers of the agent. The government was sued for negligence and breach of its duty to warn them. The district court in Hawaii ruled against Doe and Smith, saying they could not identify exactly which manufacturers’ product caused the infection. The lower court also held that the United States was not liable because “treatment at the medical facility was not below the proper standard of care.”