6
(…) they discharged my daughter but she had to follow a course of treatment at home,
therefore Dr. Pablo Monsalve indicated that she had to follow the treatment for a period of
six months and have a blood test every month, but it also turned out that ten days after
leaving the Clinic I took her to Dr. Monsalve’s consultation room at the Paucarbamba Clinic,
where he told me to obtain another blood test to control her illness; after this, he stated that
everything appeared to be normal but afterwards, on July 22, I visited Dr. Monsalve again
and to my surprise he requested another blood test on my daughter, including for AIDS, so I
went to the Humanitarian Clinic to do the test, who in turn sent the lab test to the Leopoldo
Izquieta Pérez (illegible), where they told me that my daughter [TGGL] had the AIDS virus. 23
29. In a subsequent statement she said the following:
That afterwards, on July 8, 27, and 28, they performed blood tests on the girl at the
Humanitarian Clinic and that on the latter day they said it was a special sample to be sent to
Quito. That on the first days of August, Dr. Aguilar at the Humanitarian Clinic told her to go
to the Izquieta Pérez Institute in order to speak to Dr. Vidal, who asked her whether the
parents or donors had been to the United States, and indicated that the girl’s blood was bad
and that she should return when the results were back from Guayaquil. That then she
visited Dr. Pablo Monsalve and that when she questioned him he answered: ‘get used to the
idea that the girl has AIDS from the blood transfusion, stating that it never shows in the first
few days, but in the next months.’ That in mid-August she visited Dr. Vidal again and he told
her: ‘if she received HS’s blood there was nothing to be done.’ That she returned to Dr.
Monsalve and at the Red Cross this professional seeing the tests said that yes, TGGL was
infected. That later it turned out that HS had AIDS, so that she went back to Dr. Monsalve to
ask him when this was uncovered, and the doctor said that he himself had run the test the
day after the donation, or perhaps on June 23, and then he knew that the gentleman had
AIDS. That a few days later she returned since Dr. Monsalve had offered to continue treating
TGGL and he then confessed that what happened was down to human error, was unwitting,
and that he would go on treating her, giving her injections and the respective medical checkups. 24
30. The available written evidence shows that on July 28, 1998, a blood test was indeed performed on
TGGL at the Cuenca Laboratory of the National Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, with the result of
“presence of HIV antibodies, micro-ElISA double reactivity”. 25 On August 13, 1998, a blood sample test
No.11196 under the name “TG” was performed at the request of the National Institute of Hygiene and
Tropical Medicine, the Cuenca Laboratory. The results of this confirmatory test were “immunoelectrotransfer
Western Blot for HIV 1-2, POSITIVE”.26 On January 15, 1999, a blood test was again performed on the TGGL,
resulting in “the presence of HIV antibodies, micro-ElISA double reactivity.” 27
31. For his part, Mr. HS stated at the criminal trial that approximately two weeks after donating blood,
he was called by the Red Cross to ask him to come in to take other samples since “the vials had been watered
down.” He pointed out that he asked the nurse why they needed a new sample and whether there was any
23 Annex 2. Court File. Second Criminal Court of Cuenca. Incorporated into Annex 1, Court File. Civil Action No. 323 05.
Superior Court of Justice of Cuenca. First Chamber. Statement of TGGL’s mother of November 15, 1998. Folio 284.
24 Annex 2. Court File. Second Criminal Court of Cuenca. Incorporated into Annex 1, Court File. Civil Action No. 323 05.
Superior Court of Justice of Cuenca. First Chamber. Statement of TGGL’s mother of November 23, 1998. Folio 303.
25 Annex 2. Court File. Second Criminal Court of Cuenca. Incorporated into Annex 1, Court File. Civil Action No. 323 05.
Superior Court of Justice of Cuenca. First Chamber. Result of TGGL’s blood test of July 28, 1998. Folio 42.
26 Annex 2. Court File. Second Criminal Court of Cuenca. Incorporated into Annex 1, Court File. Civil Action No. 323 05.
Superior Court of Justice of Cuenca. First Chamber. Result of TGGL’s blood test of August 13, 1998. Folio 43.
27 Annex 2. Court File. Second Criminal Court of Cuenca. Incorporated into Annex 1, Court File. Civil Action No. 323 05.
Superior Court of Justice of Cuenca. First Chamber. Result of TGGL’s blood test of January 15, 1999. Folio 46.