11/21/24
February 11, 2009
Robero Alomar's ex-girlfriend suing the baseball star.: She alleges that he has AIDS, and endangered her and her children. Sandy Alomar Sr, Robbie's father, says this is the first he's hearing his son is sick.
So did she live with him for the last 3 years or before he got tested? (assuming, of course, that he did get tested and does have AIDS, which apparently is open for debate)
posted by bender at 04:26 PM on February 11, 2009
This suit makes me sick to my stomach. I hope it is all lies. If it is true, this woman has to be the most awful human being ever. She is not HIV positive, but she wants to reveal how he was raped as a young man and how sick he is in order to line her own pockets. And, how on earth did he expose her children to HIV? This is just the worst story.
posted by bperk at 05:01 PM on February 11, 2009
This is depressing to me. I loved Roberto Alomar growing up. I really hope he's not sick, but he had a pretty narcissistic reputation when he played here in Toronto. Honestly, if it's true that's just bad on so many levels.
I think he's a Hall of Famer, first ballot, no issues.... Well, except for the whole umpire spitting and now this.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 05:34 PM on February 11, 2009
So you can have sex with someone of your own free will for over 4 years and then sue them because you feel like you made a mistake? That's just bullshit. I would feel bad for her if it was a one-nighter and she came-up positive....but it wasn't and she didn't. He forced her to have unprotected sex? For 4 years? How about leaving the SOB? This is where out society is going down the toilet. No one is resonsible for their stupid mistakes anymore. Society creates all kinds of "causes" for stupid behavoir and now people don't have to deal with consequences anymore. Someone should take this womans kids for endangering them with her stupid behavior. If she knew the dude had AIDS and kept playing "hide the sausage" with no jimmy, she is guilty of being a dumbass. No one can force you to do something you don't want to for 4 years unless a) you are drugged and tied up b) they have some serious black-mail on you c) they have one of your family members held hostage d) you are a dumbass. Since I haven't seen any criminal charges filed for a, b, or c, I am going to choose d. She is a dumbass.
posted by docshredder at 08:18 PM on February 11, 2009
I'm no expert on sleeping around or STD transmission, but I'd have to think that if someone was HIV-positive, the odds of having sex with that person regularly (presumably) over a four-year span and not getting infected yourself at some point would be pretty remote.
Even if everything she said was true (which I very much doubt), she is in no way a blameless victim. Especially because she's not a victim, at least not in a medical sense.
posted by TheQatarian at 08:47 PM on February 11, 2009
I decided to do a little research to try to answer my own question, and it turns out that the odds of a male-to-female transmission of HIV in a single sexual encounter is about 9 in 10,000. Using the power of math and a spreadsheet, that would mean that if they had unprotected sex once per month for four years, the chances of her getting AIDS from him would be about 4.2%. Twice per month: 8.3%. Once per week: 16%. Twice per week: 29.3%. Daily: 70%.
So I'll retract my previous statement about the chances of her not being infected by him over that span being remote. That being said, I have to agree with docshredder's analysis. If she knew and didn't like it, she should have gotten away from him.
posted by TheQatarian at 09:49 PM on February 11, 2009
TheQat, wouldn't each sexual encounter be seperate and independent from the others, like a spin of the roulette wheel. It is my belief that the odds would remain 9 in 10,000 for each individual encounter.
Here's my question:
Magic Johnson was diagnosed with having attained the HIV virus in 1991. As a result of that occurence, you would think that all major league sports would include a blood test as part of a player's physical when signing that player to a big contract.....any contract for that matter. Would Robbie's HIV/Aids status not have shown up in one or all of these tests? Don't players have to take a complete physical every spring training?
I call bullshit.
posted by tommybiden at 10:36 PM on February 11, 2009
Just on that, Dr Q - are those odds based on figures in the USA or a global average? The risk of heterosexual transmission is significantly higher under conditions of poor genital health, the presence of other STDs etc. If he/she had herpes, for example, the odds shorten considerably.
Hence the much higher transmission rates in Africa, Papua New Guinea and other countries.
posted by owlhouse at 10:39 PM on February 11, 2009
tommytrump: If you flip a coin, the odds of you calling it right once is 1 in 2. If you flip it twice, the odds of you getting it right once out of those two times is 3 in 4. The odds increase the more times you do it. He would only have had to transmit the disease once in all of those times, so over time, the odds increase.
BTW, I have a degree in math with an emphasis on probability, so please don't doubt me on that one. :-) Your point about the blood testing before signing a contract is a very good point, though.
owlhouse: You are correct that the value would vary based on other factors, but the 9 in 10,000 number was the only one I could find that didn't require deciphering some large mumbo-jumbo-laden medical treatise. As an aside, though, that number is an average for male-to-female transmission for vaginal sex with no other factors involved such as drug use or poor hygiene. Anal sex would have a much higher transmission rate, which is one of the big reasons why AIDS is a bigger issue in the gay community than it is in the heterosexual community. (That's just a fact, not a judgment.) Also of note (though not really relevant to this case), the odds of female-to-male transmission are only about one-eighth of the odds of a male-to-female transmission.
So there you go.
posted by TheQatarian at 10:53 PM on February 11, 2009
Clarification to my math explanation: If you flip a coin twice, you would have a 3 in 4 chance of calling it right *at least* once. Likewise, if you flipped it 10 times, you would only have a 1 in 1,024 shot of not calling at least one toss right. The odds of any particular toss being heads or tails is still 1 in 2, of course, but the cumulative number is different. With the roulette wheel example, if I pick the number 23, and spin the wheel once, odds are I'll lose. If I spin the wheel 100 times, the odds are in favor of me hitting 23 at least once.
My apologies for those who are bored by my math lessons or vain attempts at medical research. :-)
posted by TheQatarian at 11:09 PM on February 11, 2009
Thanks Dr Q. I understood the stats the first time round (I confess to having an applied maths major). However in my current line of work I occasionally get involved in aspects of HIV/AIDS transmission in developing countries.
I'm famous across a number of aid agencies for writing in a report that "In China there are estimated to be 20 million men who have sex with me."
Damn that spellchecker.
posted by owlhouse at 11:59 PM on February 11, 2009
TheQ, I wasn't caling bullshit on your math skills. I am an absolute dufus when it comes to mathematics. I am thinking Mr. Alomar's ex-girlfriend has an axe to grind, and her story just doesn't ring true to my ears.
posted by tommybiden at 12:19 AM on February 12, 2009
Don't worry, tommytrump, I knew you weren't demeaning my math skills. I just wanted to clarify the math involved. And I completely agree that her story doesn't pass the smell test.
posted by TheQatarian at 01:07 AM on February 12, 2009
The Smoking Gun provides a bunch more details. It does seem like she's trying to - first and foremost - discredit him, but I suppose that I, as a sports fan, am more inclined to not believe this sort of story.
posted by Joey Michaels at 02:15 AM on February 12, 2009
I wonder what Brett Favre thinks about all this...
posted by setlasmon at 08:13 AM on February 12, 2009
As a result of that occurence, you would think that all major league sports would include a blood test as part of a player's physical when signing that player to a big contract.....any contract for that matter.
Do you think the unions would allow mandatory HIV tests for athletes without raising a stink? Signing someone to a bajillion-dollar contract could justify all kinds of intrusive testing, especially now that genetic tests are becoming common, but I don't think it's happening yet.
As for this story, all we have to go on here is that she filed a lawsuit. Anyone can do that, so it's a shame such a spectacular accusation is getting so much weight without evidence.
posted by rcade at 09:02 AM on February 12, 2009
I'm famous across a number of aid agencies for writing in a report that "In China there are estimated to be 20 million men who have sex with me."
Nobody likes a braggard, owlhouse.
More fun with spellcheckers and the Cupertino Effect here.
posted by wfrazerjr at 09:50 AM on February 12, 2009
I'm famous across a number of aid agencies for writing in a report that "In China there are estimated to be 20 million men who have sex with me."
Call me stupid, but where's the misspelling? billion instead of million, ma instead of me, or what?
posted by gloglu02 at 10:59 AM on February 12, 2009
gloglu02 -- try "men" instead of "me."
posted by holden at 11:26 AM on February 12, 2009
Do you think the unions would allow mandatory HIV tests for athletes without raising a stink? Signing someone to a bajillion-dollar contract could justify all kinds of intrusive testing, especially now that genetic tests are becoming common, but I don't think it's happening yet.
Do you think the owners would be laying out hundreds of millions of dollars for athletes without some idea if the player they're signing is healthy? I don't know if it's happening yet either, but, I'd be hesitant about signing rcade to a 10 year $275 million deal without knowing if he was healthy going into the 1st year. How would the teams get insurance for contracts without the player undergoing a complete medical workup?
posted by tommybiden at 01:49 PM on February 12, 2009
How would the teams get insurance for contracts without the player undergoing a complete medical workup?
The professional physical required before a contract is signed has a questionnaire on illness and a physical evaluation. There is no invasive or tests done that are not on the body itself. They may include things like surgery reports, xrays, EKGs and MRIs.
In addition to this, (I'm no medical expert but do study it a fair bit) HIV drugs generally raise your CBC count (red blood cell count) and would be picked up by most doping tests. I'm not sure that in MLB, Alomar would've been caught by this, but theoretically, he would've tested positive for blood doping. I'm not sure the timeline for when the red blood cell injections came into effect but he'd look like that if he was taking meds for his disease.
I'm not sure what to believe here, but then again, few details have been released.
posted by dfleming at 02:11 PM on February 12, 2009
Umm, wow.