Lawsuit Against the Red Cross for Alleged Injury After Blood Donation

In Baumann v. American National Red Cross, 262 F. Supp. 2d 965 (C.D. Ill. 2003), the plaintiff sued the American Red Cross for alleged injuries she sustained after donating blood at an American Red Cross facility. The plaintiff there alleged that the defendant was negligent for failing to warn her of the potential for injury involved in drawing blood, improperly injecting the blood-drawing device and injuring her right median nerve. Baumann, 262 F. Supp. 2d at 966. The Baumann court held that "although the plaintiff was not a 'patient' receiving 'medical treatment' in the traditional sense from the Red- Cross, this case is one for medical malpractice rather than simple negligence, and section 2-622 applies." Baumann, 262 F. Supp. 2d at 968. The Baumann court stated that the "focus of section 2-622 is not as much-on the education, training, or certification of the defendant as it is on the nature of the claim itself" Baumann, 262 F. Supp. 2d at 967.