Nine-year-old HIV carrier Xiao Jian, from central China's Henan Province, has lost his lawsuit against the Stomatological Hospital affiliated with Peking University. The boy alleged that he was infected with the virus during a blood transfusion at the hospital in 2002.

The Beijing Haidian District People's Court ruled on Tuesday that the hospital and blood supplier were not at fault. The court also ruled out the possibility that the boy was infected with HIV at the hospital.

The court had ordered a professional medical research center to investigate whether the boy's case was a medical accident. "The result showed that it was not," the Beijing News quoted a judge as saying.

The trial was heard in closed session, as the plaintiff is still a minor.

Xiao Jian went to the hospital in August 2002 for treatment and received a blood transfusion because of his low blood platelet count. The boy, seven years old at the time, left the hospital in September 2002.

He was confirmed HIV positive by a local health quarantine station in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province, in November 2003.

The boy's parents were tested and found to be free of HIV/AIDS, and the family concluded the boy must have been infected at the hospital. They asked for 2.3 million yuan (US$283,000) in compensation in the lawsuit.

While rejecting the plaintiff's claims, the court decided to waive the court fees of 22,000 yuan (US$2,600) because of the family's financial status, the Beijing News reported.

The hospital and blood provider will pay the medical evaluation fees of 3,500 yuan (US$430).

(China Daily April 21, 2005)