Family sues in case of woman killed by experimental AIDS drug

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The family of a woman who died while taking an experimental AIDS drug has filed a negligence lawsuit seeking $10 million in damages.

The Tuesday filing of the lawsuit reopens a case the family had backed away from after they were stymied in attempts to get information in the case. Earlier this month, The Associated Press gave the family copies of National Institutes of Health documents while gathering information for a story reporting the death.

Joyce Ann Hafford's family says they were never told NIH had concluded that the experimental drug regimen likely caused her death until they saw the agency's internal case documents. They were left to believe Hafford had died from AIDS complications.

Hafford's August 2003 death, less than 72 hours after her son Sterling was born prematurely, halted the federal government research program of nevirapine.

As part of the study, Hafford -- 33 when she died -- was taking nevirapine to protect her unborn child from contracting the AIDS virus.

"Sterling was her No. 1 concern," said Rubbie King, 36, Hafford's sister. She has custody of Sterling and Hafford's other son, Jermal, 14.

The family first filed suit in June, but withdrew it in September because lawyers felt they didn't have enough information.

The NIH's official review showed doctors failed to react to lab results that showed her liver failing well before she died.

The case eventually reached the nation's chief AIDS researcher, according to the documents obtained by AP.

Officials in South Africa and Uganda are now questioning the safety of the drug, which has been used to treat thousands of pregnant women in Africa.

Hafford's baby came prematurely by Caesarean section July 29 and she died two days later. Sterling remains HIV negative, the family said.

The lawsuit names the hospital where she was treated, drug makers Smithkline Beecham Corp. and Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc., St. Jude Chidren's Research Hospital, a University of Tennessee Health Science Center faculty member, and the UT Medical Group, among others.

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On the Net:

NIH documents gathered by AP are available at: http://wid.ap.org/documents/nevirapine3.html

National Institutes of Health: http://www.nih.gov