Woman wins $1.5 million in HPV lawsuit
7:13 AM
Posted: Tuesday, August 12, 2008
MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) -- A Muscatine woman has won $1.5 million in a lawsuit she filed against a man she claims infected her with a sexually transmitted disease.
Karly Rossiter filed the lawsuit against Alan Evans, of Muscatine, claiming he told her he was free of any sexually transmitted diseases before they began dating in December 2004. A few days after they had sex, Evans asked Rossiter if she had been tested for the human papilloma virus, which causes genital warts.
Court records show that Rossiter went to her doctor and was told there was no general test for the virus. The only test was part of a cervical cancer screening, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Because her insurance wouldn't pay for it, Rossiter paid for the test out of her own pocket.
The lawsuit said she learned in April 2005 that she could have the virus and started to develop symptons in January 2006. An examination showed she had abnormal cells on the surface of her cervix, a percursor to cancer.
The lawsuit said she had a surgical procedure in March 2006.
Her attorney Jeff Tronvold, of Cedar Rapids, said only a small percentage of similar cases in the U.S. make it to court. He believed it was one of the first cases of its kind in Iowa.
Tronvold said that while his client is now sympton free, there is no guarantee it won't return and she will remain a carrier of the virus.
Evans' attorney, Michael Koury of Davenport, declined to comment on the case on Monday.
The jury returned its judgment in favor of Rossiter on Aug. 1.
Karly Rossiter filed the lawsuit against Alan Evans, of Muscatine, claiming he told her he was free of any sexually transmitted diseases before they began dating in December 2004. A few days after they had sex, Evans asked Rossiter if she had been tested for the human papilloma virus, which causes genital warts.
Court records show that Rossiter went to her doctor and was told there was no general test for the virus. The only test was part of a cervical cancer screening, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Because her insurance wouldn't pay for it, Rossiter paid for the test out of her own pocket.
The lawsuit said she learned in April 2005 that she could have the virus and started to develop symptons in January 2006. An examination showed she had abnormal cells on the surface of her cervix, a percursor to cancer.
The lawsuit said she had a surgical procedure in March 2006.
Her attorney Jeff Tronvold, of Cedar Rapids, said only a small percentage of similar cases in the U.S. make it to court. He believed it was one of the first cases of its kind in Iowa.
Tronvold said that while his client is now sympton free, there is no guarantee it won't return and she will remain a carrier of the virus.
Evans' attorney, Michael Koury of Davenport, declined to comment on the case on Monday.
The jury returned its judgment in favor of Rossiter on Aug. 1.
Story Comments
Read More and Post Comments 2 comment(s)
Please note: The following are comments from readers. In no way do they represent the views of The Sioux City Journal or Lee Enterprises. We will not edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to not post or to remove comments that violate our code of conduct. No comment may contain potentially libelous statements; obscene, explicit or racist language; personal attacks, insults or threats. Terms of Service
alrak wrote on Aug 12, 2008 11:01 AM:
Come on wrote on Aug 12, 2008 8:41 AM: