AP: Four Years of Trauma For Couple After Erroneous HIV Diagnosis

Kadapa: A couple from Proddatur has alleged that an incorrect HIV diagnosis at a government hospital subjected them to four years of severe mental agony, social stigma and irreparable personal losses.

Nelluri Lokesh and his wife Rizwana, who had a love marriage and a daughter, said their lives were shattered after doctors at the Proddatur area hospital declared Rizwana HIV-positive during routine blood tests. This was when she was admitted there for her second delivery on September 10, 2020.

According to the couple, following this, the doctors refused to conduct the delivery themselves and left it to attendants, causing deep emotional distress to the couple.

On medical advice, Rizwana was put on anti-retroviral therapy for nearly six months, during which her health deteriorated. Her condition improved only after stopping the medication.

“The doctor told us that my wife was HIV-positive. From that moment, our lives changed forever. We lived in constant fear and shame,” Lokesh said.

“Later tests proved there was no HIV infection to her at all, but by then the damage was already done,” he said.

The couple alleged that Rizwana’s name was entered as an HIV patient in online records. Subsequent blood tests conducted at private hospitals however confirmed that she was HIV-negative.

Rizwana said the HIV tag led to discrimination and humiliation. “We were treated differently everywhere. Even our requests to remove my name from online HIV records were ignored,” she said.

“Till today, both my name and my husband’s name appear online, and we continue to face stigma.”

Worse, due to the HIV label, Rizwana was not allowed to breastfeed her newborn. Tragically, the infant died after six months of its birth, on February 5, 2021. “We firmly believe our child might have survived if proper care and feeding were allowed,” Lokesh alleged.

The couple said they approached the Kadapa district collector through the grievance cell in the first week of February 2025 and in the second week of March 2025, but received no response.

They also lodged a complaint with the district SP in June 2025. Later, two staff members from the ART centre visited their home and forced them to sign certain records.

Responding to the complaint, Proddatur area hospital superintendent Dr Sujatha told Deccan Chronicle that the hospital was not responsible for the issue. She said the couple should seek a clarification from the ART centre. “I was not on duty when Rizwana was diagnosed as HIV-positive,” she said.