Hepatitis Patient Mistakenly Got HIV Medication

NEW YORK January 9, 2008 -- A liver transplant patient has sued New York University Medical Center for $2 million, claiming the hospital's pharmacy gave him medicine for HIV when he tried to fill a prescription for hepatitis C.

Rossini got his transplanted liver in 1996. An employee in the NYU Medical Center pharmacy made the error on Jan. 18, 2005, when the patient asked for a medication called Rebetol for hepatitis C. The unidentified pharmacist instead gave him Reyataz, an HIV medication, court papers say.

Taking the wrong medication caused his hepatitis condition to worsen. Besides chills, dizziness, fever and loss of appetite and weight, his eyes and skin turned yellow.