Toronto man sues over HIV infection

A Toronto man who found out nearly eight years ago that his Thai stripper wife had infected him with HIV has no one to blame but himself, the Ontario Superior Court heard Tuesday.

It is not reasonable for Canadian citizens to expect the government to be an “insurance” if they contract a disease after engaging in “risky” unprotected sex with an immigrant, argued Crown lawyer Marina Stefanovic in the Toronto court.

Percy Wilbert Whiteman is suing the government, an immigration doctor, his ex-wife, Suwalee Iamkhong, and the Zanzibar Tavern for $30 million, claiming negligence on their part led to his infection.

Whiteman, 36, claims the defendants did not take the necessary steps to find out that Iamkhong was HIV positive. He also alleges that immigration officials put him at risk by not testing Iamkhong for HIV when she immigrated to Canada in 1995 on a special four-month work visa.

Stefanovic told the court that Iamkhong had “intentionally and criminally concealed her condition” from Citizenship and Immigration Canada. But even if she didn’t, her having the disease did not make her ineligible to immigrate to Canada.

Whiteman and Iamkhong met at the club in downtown Toronto and were married from 1997 to 2004.

Whiteman only found out about his wife’s HIV status when she was admitted to hospital in March 2004 with Aids-like symptoms.

Iamkhong was deported back to Thailand last year. In August 2007, she was convicted of criminal negligence causing bodily harm for infecting Whiteman.

The hearing is scheduled to continue Wednesday.