A well-known infectious diseases hospital in Beijing was ordered to pay 13,344 yuan (US$1,959) for accidentally pricking a man with a needle an AIDS patient had used, according to a court ruling on Monday.

Beijing Ditan Hospital was ordered to pay 3,344 yuan for economic loss and 10,000 yuan for emotional damage to a 29-year-old man from central China's Henan Province, surnamed Xi, according to the Chaoyang District People's Court ruling.

Xi accompanied a friend with AIDS in the hospital in March 2008. He slept in a folding bed he had brought close to the sickroom door. A needle that had just been used to draw blood from an AIDS patient suddenly fell from the nurse's tray and pricked Xi's right foot at 6 a.m. on March 17, it said.

The hospital gave the man free treatment after that and Xi tested negative for the AIDS virus after a half-year observation. The AIDS virus has a six month dormancy period.

Xi sued the hospital to the court in November, asking a 128,000 yuan compensation as he suffered enormous spiritual burdens.

The Ditan Hospital said that Xi privately set up a bed in the sickroom, which was against the hospital regulation. Nurses tried to persuade him to leave, but failed.

The court said the hospital was responsible for the safety of its staff. It should be aware that the sickroom was a dangerous area and should urge Xi to leave.

The nurse did not take any preventive measures even though she knew Xi's bed was close to the door, the court said.

Xi did not appear at the court on Monday. The hospital did not appeal the case.

(Xinhua News Agency March 10, 2009)