In an ongoing effort to take on HIV discrimination by health care providers, the Department of Justice recently settled a lawsuit against an Ohio hospital.
Glenbeigh hospital, in Rock Creek, Ohio, violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Justice Department said. Glenbeigh unlawfully refused to admit a man with HIV into its alcohol treatment program because of the side effects of his HIV medication.
“Ensuring access to medical care for people with HIV requires that those in the medical field make medical decisions that are not based on fears or stereotypes,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “The ADA does not tolerate HIV discrimination and neither will the Justice Department.”
In the past six weeks, the department announced similar agreements with the Fayetteville Pain Center, the Castlewood Treatment Center, and Woodlawn Family Dentistry to address HIV discrimination. All four settlements are part of the Justice Department’s Barrier-Free Health Care Initiative, a partnership of the Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney’s offices across the nation, to target enforcement efforts on a critical area for individuals with disabilities.
Extensive information about AIDS/HIV discrimination laws at the federal, state and local level is available on our HIV Discrimination page.
Additional information about the ADA and the Justice Department’s settlement agreement with Woodlawn Family Dentistry is at ADA.gov or the department’s page devoted to fighting discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS at ADA.gov/AIDS, or call the toll-free ADA Information Line at (800) 514-0301 (voice) or (800) 514-0383 (TTY).