Probe begins into HIV-tainted blood

Probe begins into HIV-tainted blood

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): Authorities in a northern Malaysian state ordered health officials and the police on Monday to submit detailed reports on how a 47-year-old woman was given blood contaminated with HIV, the national news agency said.

Kedah state's top health official V. Saravanan called for the reports after Monday's New Straits Times daily published a front- page article about the blood transfusion on April 29, one day after the woman was admitted to a hospital in the state. She was discharged the next day.

The reports by the health department and police would be discussed at a meeting of the state's Cabinet on Wednesday, Bernama news agency quoted Saravanan as saying.

According to the New Straits Times, the woman, who declined to be identified by name, had filed a police complaint accusing the hospital in Jitra town of negligence. The town is about 400 kilometers north of Kuala Lumpur.