Citation

AIDS Policy Law 1999; 14(4): 10.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, Buraff Publications)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

11366385

Abstract

A Louisiana physician, Dr. Richard Schmidt, was sentenced to a 50-year term for injecting his ex-girlfriend with HIV in 1994. Schmidt had been found guilty of attempted second-degree murder of Janice Trahan Allen. Allen testified that she had broken off their 10-year relationship just before Schmidt gave her an injection that she thought was vitamin B12. The prosecutor's case relied on DNA analysis showing that Allen's viral strain matched that from a patient of Schmidt's. Judge Durwood Conque said Schmidt showed no remorse. Schmidt plans to appeal. The case is one of only two HIV poisonings reported in the United States since the beginning of the epidemic.

Language: en