2021 Georgia Code
Title 51 - Torts
Chapter 1 - General Provisions
§ 51-1-28. Transfusions, Transplants, and Transfers of Human Blood, Tissue, Organs; Negligence Prerequisite to Recovery for Damages

1. The injection, transfusion, or other transfer of human whole blood, blood plasma, blood products, or blood derivatives and the transplanting or other transfer of any tissue, bones, or organs into or onto the human body shall not be considered a sale of any commodity, goods, property, or product subject to sale or barter but, instead, shall be considered as the rendition of medical services. No implied warranties of any kind or description shall be applicable thereto and no person, firm, or corporation participating in such services shall be liable for damages unless negligence is proven.
2. Code Section 51-1-27 shall not be affected by subsection (a) of this Code section.

(Code 1933, § 105-1105, enacted by Ga. L. 1971, p. 457, § 1.)

- Inapplicability of implied warranties to injection, transfusion, or other transfer of blood, blood plasma, etc., or transplanting of tissue, bones, or organs, § 11-2-316.

- For article, "Federal Automotive Safety Standards and Georgia Products Liability Law: Conflict or Coexistence?," see 26 Ga. St. B. J. 107 (1990). For comment on tort liability of hospitals based on use of defective blood in blood transfusions, see 5 Ga. L. Rev. 371 (1971).

This section is not contrary to the privileges and immunities clause of U.S. Const., amend. 14. McAllister v. American Nat'l Red Cross, 240 Ga. 246, 240 S.E.2d 247 (1977).

- The reasoning behind this section is free from the arbitrariness which would render the exemption of blood suppliers special legislation contrary to the Georgia Constitution. McAllister v. American Nat'l Red Cross, 240 Ga. 246, 240 S.E.2d 247 (1977).

Clear import of this section is to include not only hospitals, but entities like the American National Red Cross engaged in providing blood for human use. McAllister v. American Nat'l Red Cross, 240 Ga. 246, 240 S.E.2d 247 (1977).

Hospitals supplying blood to patients do so as part of rendering medical "services," rather than as a "sale" of blood, and thus only negligence and not strict products liability is available to the injured patient. McAllister v. American Nat'l Red Cross, 240 Ga. 246, 240 S.E.2d 247 (1977).

O.C.G.A. § 51-1-28 bars claim under O.C.G.A. § 51-1-11 for defective blood. Timms v. Verson Allsteel Press Co., 520 F. Supp. 1147 (N.D. Ga. 1981).

- Georgia's "blood shield" statute applied to a commercial laboratory, so as to bar a hemophiliac's strict liability and breach of warranty claims against the laboratory for a defective blood-clotting agent which allegedly exposed the hemophiliac to the virus associated with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Jones v. Miles Labs., Inc., 705 F. Supp. 561 (N.D. Ga. 1987), aff'd, 887 F.2d 1576 (11th Cir. 1989).

Cited in Parr v. Palmyra Park Hosp., 139 Ga. App. 457, 228 S.E.2d 596 (1976).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 63A Am. Jur. 2d, Products Liability, §§ 842, 1189.

- 72A C.J.S. Supp., Product Liability, §§ 5, 23, 54.

- Hospital's liability for exposing patient to extraneous infection or contagion, 96 A.L.R.2d 1205.

Tort liability or physician or hospital in connection with organ or tissue transplant procedures, 76 A.L.R.3d 890.

Liability of hospital, physician, or other individual medical practitioner for injury or death resulting from blood transfusion, 20 A.L.R.4th 136.

Liability of blood supplier or donor for injury or death resulting from blood transfusion, 24 A.L.R.4th 508.

Liability for donee's contraction of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) from blood transfusion, 64 A.L.R.5th 333.

Validity, construction, and application of blood shield statutes, 75 A.L.R.5th 229.

Federal preemption of state common-law products liability claims pertaining to medical devices, implants, and other health-related items, 74 A.L.R. Fed. 2d 1.

Products liability: pain pumps, 90 A.L.R.6th 75.

Liability of manufacturer or distributor for injuries arising from allegedly defective artificial knee devices or prostheses, 89 A.L.R.6th 337.

Products liability: hip prostheses, 96 A.L.R.6th 1.