A former employee of University Hospitals in Iowa City is suing the state of Iowa for telling her insurance company she was exposed to HIV while drawing blood from a patient in 2001. The suit states the woman, who was employed as a phlebotomist, was drawing blood from a patient when a glass collection tube shattered. A piece of glass pierced the woman's hand through a latex glove. The accident caused the woman to be exposed to the blood of the HIV- and hepatitis C-infected patient, the suit states. The woman tested negative for HIV and signed a form barring the hospitals from releasing information about the test to her insurance company. The woman, who filed the suit Wednesday in Johnson County District Court, lists her name as Jane Doe to protect her identity. The suit states an unknown employee or employees submitted the claim to the woman's insurance provider, which denied the claim Oct. 8, 2002. Since the injury was covered under workmen's compensation, there was no need to report the test to her insurer, the woman said. The release of this information may damage the woman's ability to get affordable health care, the suit states.

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