DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A mother says an urgent care clinic never contacted her family after her teenage daughter’s HIV test came back positive, leaving the teen to discover the result on her online medical portal. The family later learned the test result was a false positive.
The family asked Channel 2 Action News not to identify them to protect the teen’s privacy.
The mother said she was awakened around 2 a.m. in June by her daughter’s screams after the teen checked her MyChart account on her phone.
“I just didn’t feel good at that moment,” the teen said.
The teen said she believed her life was over after seeing the positive HIV result.
“I was just crying. I felt like my life was over,” she said.
The mother said she forced her way into her daughter’s locked bedroom and found her on the floor after the teen attempted to take her own life.
The family said no one from Pickens Urgent Care contacted them to explain the result, provide counseling or arrange follow-up care.
“The clinic never contacted us. The doctor didn’t contact us,” the mother said.
The mother sought additional testing for her daughter at four separate medical facilities.
“Everything came back negative,” she said.
The mother said a nurse at an HIV clinic encouraged her to investigate further.
“She said, ‘Mom, this is a false positive. Do your research on that clinic. Do your due diligence,’” the mother recalled.
The family said they later found online complaints from other patients alleging misdiagnoses, lost medical samples and poor patient care at the same clinic.
“What if I didn’t go to another clinic to get tested? I would have just gone on thinking that I had it,” the teen said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, healthcare providers should deliver positive HIV test results through confidential personal contact and promptly connect patients with follow-up medical care, counseling and support services.
Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Ashli Lincoln repeatedly called and emailed Pickens Urgent Care seeking comment. No one responded before publication.
Lincoln visited the clinic in person, where an employee said management was preparing an official statement.
The employee said patients who receive HIV testing are typically given follow-up appointments within five days. However, the family said the teen’s patient portal showed no scheduled follow-up appointment.
After Channel 2 Action News visited the clinic, the mother said the facility contacted her for the first time since her daughter’s June visit.
Channel 2 Action News also learned there is no state agency that specifically regulates urgent care centers in Georgia. Instead, physicians, nurses and other medical professionals practicing at those facilities are licensed and regulated individually through their respective state licensing boards.
“Thank God it was a false positive,” the mother said. “We just want to make sure this doesn’t happen to any other teenagers.”
According to the CDC, HIV test results should be communicated using the same confidential procedures as other routine medical tests. However, when a patient receives a positive result, providers are encouraged to deliver that information through direct, personal communication rather than by mail.
The agency says patients who receive a positive HIV diagnosis should also be immediately linked to follow-up medical care, counseling and other support services to help them begin treatment and understand their diagnosis.
The CDC says timely notification is essential because people who begin treatment early can achieve better long-term health outcomes. Early treatment can also lower the amount of HIV in a person’s body to undetectable levels, significantly reducing the risk of transmitting the virus to others.
The guidance is intended to ensure patients receive accurate information, emotional support and prompt access to care after an HIV diagnosis.
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