According to Lawinfo.com, a growing area of Personal Injury Law is the passing of STD's from one partner to another.
Under Tort Law, we all have a duty to take reasonable care when dealing with and interacting with others and this has, increasingly, been applied to situations involving sexual partners.
In the case of incurable diseases such as HIV, AIDS & Herpes, the law states ,in approx 27 states,that a person who has tested positive for these diseases must make their partner aware of this fact before engaging in intercourse.
These cases can be brought to court under charges for fraud,battery,negligence and/or the infliction of physical or emotional distress.
In order for the accused person to be convicted and declared guilty, it must be proven that the accused person was aware of the fact they had the disease,that they failed to tell their partner they had the disease and finally, that they intentionally infected the other person with the disease.
A famous case where the accused has been convicted was back in 2005 when an Atlanta Falcons quarterback was sued by a woman for giving her herpes.The woman was awarded with undisclosed monetary damages.
In cases involving curable disease such as Syphilis, Gonorrhea & Chlamydia, it is much harder to get a conviction.
Some things to consider before filing for an STD related case are:
1:The Statute Of Limitations
You need to make sure you make your claim within a certain time frame (which varies from state to state).A claim will only be valid if it is made within the allowed time.
2:the Seriousness of the Disease
As mentioned above, it is harder to bring cases involving less serious disease such as Syphilis, Gonorrhea &Chlamydia, to court than those involving AIDS,etc. You need to asses whether your case counts as serious or not in the eyes of the law.
3:Providing Evidence
the burden of proof falls on the person seeking damages in these STD cases. they must be able to prove that the accused knew they had the disease;didn't inform of this fact & infected them intentionally with the disease. To prove all of this is quite hard and so before going to court you must make sure you have clear and decisive evidence proving each point.
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