Doe ex rel. Doe v. American National Red Cross

Plaintiff/appellant/cross-appellee Jane Doe (“Doe” or “Appellant”) appeals the decision of the district court, granting Defendant/appellee/cross-appellant Dr. Dennis Donohue’s (“Donohue” or “Appellee”) motion to dismiss based on Donohue’s qualified immunity. Doe filed suit against Donohue, then-director of the United States Food and Drug Administration’s (“FDA”) Division of Blood and Blood Products, and others, alleging common law negligence, fraud, and constitutional torts related to the death of her husband from Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (“AIDS”), which he contracted after receiving a blood transfusion at a University of Arizona Hospital in 1984. The dismissal of Donohue from Doe’s action was certified for immediate appeal under Fed.R.Civ.P. 54(b). Donohue cross-appeals the district court’s exercise of personal jurisdiction over him. We affirm the district court’s dismissal of Donohue on grounds that the district court lacked personal jurisdiction.

*1050 I. Background

Doe brought a class action against the American Red Cross, the University of Arizona, various doctors, several blood banks, and Donohue, after her husband died of AIDS. In her suit, Doe alleged that…