An ex-prisoner who was discriminated against and denied treatment because of his HIV-positive status will receive compensation from the State for the “deliberate act on the part of prison officers.”

In a ruling on February 28, Justice Kevin Ramcharan declared that denying the ex-prisoner access to sufficient medical care because he is HIV-positive meant his rights to life, security of the person and equality of treatment had been infringed.

The judge ordered $350,000 in compensation.

The ex-prisoner, 45, of Port of Spain, has asked for his name not to be published because of his HIV-positive status. He said he has been HIV-positive for over 20 years.

He was incarcerated at the Port of Spain prison from 2017-2019. His lawsuit said he developed a pimple-sized abscess on his right foot in 2018 and asked for treatment. He was only taken to the infirmary after he collapsed and as the abscess grew, he begged for treatment.

His lawsuit contends the infirmary officers ignored his pleas. Five weeks after the abscess appeared, it ruptured. An attempt was made to drain it, but it was only partly successful and the man was left unable to walk.

The infirmary doctor ordered that he should be sent to the Port of Spain General Hospital for surgical intervention. Although doctors were able to save his life and limb, he lost large amounts of tissue, muscle, ligament and nerve endings.

He was discharged from the hospital with instructions for his wound to be cleaned and dressed every other day.

However, he said during the nine months he spent at the prison’s infirmary, prison officers refused to clean or care for his wounds because of his HIV-positive status.

He said he is now permanently disfigured and handicapped.

In his ruling, the judge dismissed the State's contentions that the man’s lawsuit was an abuse of process. He said it contained a special feature, and while a finding of negligence could not be made, prison officers' denial of treatment because of his HIV-positive status “was a deliberate act.”

In examining the evidence, including medical records and prison entries, the judge found “evidence of the treatment of the claimant” was lacking. He also said it was deficient.

Because of this, he ruled, “The court is compelled to make adverse inferences against the defendant.

“In the circumstances, the court finds as a fact that the claimant's initial abscess and subsequent treatment on his return from the hospital were not properly dealt with because of his HIV status.”

Although the judge found there were breaches of the claimant's rights and he was discriminated against, he said he could not make a declaration that the prison authorities acted unlawfully or illegally in breach of prison rules, as those were reliefs applicable to judicial review, and not constitutional claims.

The State was also ordered to pay the man’s legal costs. He was represented by attorneys Joseph Sookool Lemuel Murphy and Abigail Roach.

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