Law Suit

Thursday August 21, 2008

According to the NY Post a New York City woman is suing her husband for 25 million dollars for giving her several STDs, in particular multiple high risk strains of HPV. Now, don't get me wrong, I feel sorry for this woman, and think that her husband treated her terribly, but 25 million dollars? That seems excessive for a virus that infects the vast majority of the population. In general, I have pretty strongly mixed feelings about STD lawsuits. While I understand the desire to punish someone for putting you needlessly at risk, I tend to think that it's people's responsibility to protect themselves. There may be an expectation of fidelity with a spouse, but it's far from an ironclad guarantee. Using condoms all the time gives you a lot less to worry about. Trust is great, where it's warranted, but you can always count on a good piece of latex.