Martin Francis Gaffney (January 17, 1949 – November 1, 1991) was an American Marine who successfully sued the United States government on behalf of his wife's estate for causing the death of his wife Mutsuko Gaffney, one son, and eventually himself by infecting them with HIV after Mutsuko got a blood transfusion at a Naval Hospital in 1981.
He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1975 in Lowell, Massachusetts and would eventually rise to the rank of Chief Warrant Officer (CWO4).
Mr. Gaffney recalled the reaction of his wife, to the news she had AIDS: Mutsuko turned to the doctor and asked for enough sleeping pills to commit suicide, he said.
Martin Gaffney tested positive for HIV but showed no symptoms yet when he filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the federal government in 1988.
U.S. District Judge Rya Zobel stating "infection with a communicable disease was a foreseeable consequence of administering blood to a patient even in 1981.
Elizabeth Glaser, like Mutsuko Gaffney, was infected via a transfusion with tainted blood and also had 2 children contract HIV from their mother in utero.