A woman contracted herpes during a June 2023 manicure at PDX Nails in Portland, Oregon, a lawsuit claims. (KPTV/YouTube)
A woman claims in a recently filed lawsuit that she contracted herpes at a salon while receiving an acrylic nail manicure.
It allegedly happened June 1, 2023, at PDX Nails, located in Portland, Oregon, according to the lawsuit obtained by Law&Crime. The lawsuit, which is seeking $1.75 million and was filed March 5 in Multnomah County Circuit Court, alleges that the nail technician did not wear gloves and stored drill bits in an Altoids mints tin box.
The woman, a 23-year-old identified in the lawsuit as “S.R.”, allegedly began to feel ill and had swelling around two fingers immediately after the manicure. By June 5, blisters began forming around her fingers so she decided to go to an urgent clinic where staff swabbed the blisters. A test came back positive for genital herpes, the lawsuit said. The woman did not have herpes before going to the salon, the lawsuit states.
“The infection was painful, and the diagnosis caused S.R. a great deal of distress,” the lawsuit stated. “She was told the infection could continue to come back, and that there is no cure for herpes.”
Despite taking medication, outbreaks continued for the next several months with new blisters forming.
The lawsuit also states the nail salon in 2021 violated state standards for not properly disinfecting tools. State officials fined the salon $1,000, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit said that salon owners Tam and Hai Nguyen were negligent when they failed to properly train their technicians and adhere to safety and sanitation protocols.
The impact on the woman is long-standing.
“There is no cure,” the lawsuit states. “She must, for life, monitor outbreaks for the safety of others, including any partners or future children. The outbreaks, which have continued to occur, require bandaging to prevent spread, are unsightly and painful, and take weeks to fully clear up.”
The woman told The Oregonian newspaper that she’s been getting manicures since she was 8 or 9 years old. She’s prompted questions when she’s wearing bandages.
“People have asked ‘What happened to your finger?” she said. “I don’t want to tell them what it really is because it’s really embarrassing.”
The newspaper reports while rare, herpes can be transferred during a manicure. A Colorado woman won $3.1 million when she contracted herpes during a manicure.
Tam and Hai Nguyen could not be reached for comment.
