A Ghanaian woman, Rahinatu Amissah, has dragged international medical laboratory firm Synlab to the High Court in Accra, accusing the facility of issuing false HIV test results that upended her life.
In a writ filed at the General Jurisdiction Division of the court on April 29, 2025, Amissah alleges that Synlab’s wrongful diagnosis cost her a lucrative job abroad, triggered severe psychological distress, and subjected her to enduring stigma both at home and overseas.
Represented by John Asaayure Akazee of the prestigious law firm Akufo-Addo, Prempeh & Co., the plaintiff is seeking judicial redress, citing negligence and demanding accountability for what she describes as irreparable damage caused by Synlab’s erroneous test results.
Multiple tests, one outlier
According to the statement of claim, Amissah—who is a professional hairdresser—initially tested for HIV at Synlab and received a positive result.
Deeply distressed but doubtful of the outcome, she undertook further testing at several reputable health facilities in Accra and Tamale, including the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and the Royal Good Shepherd Hospital. All subsequent results, she says, confirmed she was HIV negative.
Despite presenting Synlab with these multiple negative results, the company allegedly insisted on the accuracy of its own test. The writ recounts that Synlab collected a new blood sample from Amissah on April 4, 2023, and issued yet another positive result, for which she paid GH¢180.
Kuwait job opportunity crushed
Amissah had secured a well-paying job as a hairdresser in Kuwait, and her family had made considerable sacrifices—including selling cattle—to finance her travel and resettlement. However, Synlab’s HIV result reportedly became a requirement for her to regularise her residence in Kuwait.
Immigration authorities demanded that her medical tests be conducted exclusively at Synlab.
When the positive result was issued and shared with Kuwaiti authorities, it reportedly reached her prospective employer, who swiftly severed ties with her.
Stripped of both opportunity and dignity, Amissah returned to Ghana, where she was met with even more hardship.
Social rejection and mental health struggles
By the time her flight landed at Kotoka International Airport, word of her supposed HIV status had already spread.
The writ alleges that friends, family, and neighbours began to ostracise her, deepening her emotional turmoil. The situation became so grave that she contemplated suicide.
The psychological toll of being wrongly branded HIV positive, the suit claims, affected every aspect of her life—from personal relationships to self-worth.
Relief and new life
In a twist of fate, Amissah found comfort and spiritual counsel in a religious cleric, with whom she later had a child. As required by antenatal care protocols, she was tested again for HIV during her pregnancy. The result was negative, confirming her previous non-Synlab tests.
After giving birth, her baby also tested negative for HIV. According to the writ, she was not administered any preventive antiretroviral medication during pregnancy or delivery, further reinforcing the claim that she had never been HIV positive to begin with.
Court asked to rule on negligence
Amissah’s legal team is asking the High Court to hold Synlab liable for what they describe as gross professional negligence. The writ invokes the legal doctrine of res ipsa loquitur—meaning “the thing speaks for itself”—arguing that the harm suffered by the plaintiff is self-evidently the result of the defendant’s actions.
The suit outlines specific damages, including economic loss, reputational injury, and emotional trauma, and calls for compensation for what Amissah deems the ruin of her livelihood and dignity.
Synlab is yet to file a response to the suit.
