The AIDS crisis and the medical-legal implications of transfusion therapy.

An increased awareness of the potential to be harmed by blood transfusions has come with the AIDS crisis. Patients and health care providers alike are concerned with the complications of a transfusion, and various alternatives to traditional transfusion therapy have emerged. They include autologous transfusions, directed donations, and outright refusals of transfusion therapy. This article examines the medical-legal considerations that accompany a decision to transfuse. Various legal theories used in cases where persons injured by transfusions have sought legal redress and the outcomes of those cases will be examined. The question of whether directed donations are a reasonable alternative to traditional transfusion therapy will also be explored.