by Heather Graf
TULLAHOMA, Tenn. - Imagine being told you were HIV positive, and then months later, learning it was all just a medical mistake. It happened to a 19-year-old in Tullahoma. Now, she's suing the laboratory that processed her test results.
Holly Hinkle went to her doctor in Tullahoma back in January, after learning she was pregnant.
"They did the routine tests for pregnant woman," she said. "Then my doctor's office called me and told me I was HIV positive."
Holly says she was scared and confused by the test results.
"It's just, you feel like your like is over," she said.
For months, she was given anti HIV medicines, and during the treatment she worried constantly that her illness would affect her unborn baby.
Then in May, a second HIV test was performed. This one came back with a negative result.
"It was relief, the best feeling in the world, I just - it was like a miracle," she said.
Holly was also angry.
"Whoever mixed up my blood at the lab should've been more careful, because I wouldn't wish this on anybody, it's the worst feeling," she said.
Now Holly and her attorney want answers about how it happened.
"Of course, we're early in the process, but what it appears is that this is a pure case of a switched sample," said attorney Robert Carter. "And if that's the case, we feel like maybe they need to be held accountable for it."
They've filed a lawsuit again American Esoteric Laboratories of Memphis. It seeks a million dollars in damages for emotional and psychological damages Holly says she endured during the time she thought she was HIV positive.
She's also sharing her story to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else.
"I want other people to know this is real and to be careful," she said. "And then I got to thinking about it, if they mixed up my blood, that could mean someone else could have HIV and not even know."
Holly's little girl is due in just two weeks, and so far, appears healthy. She says she won't fully know the affects of the anti HIVE medicine until her daughter is born.
NewsChannel 5 reached out to American Esoteric Laboratories of Memphis for comment, but our calls were not returned.
The company has not yet issued a formal response to the lawsuit filed against them.
email: hgraf@newschannel5.com
